Return to no Home
by MultipleCyrosis
Summary: AU After years of moving, his mother has died. Ichigo finally settles down in Karakura, and is now going to attend Karakura Highschool. A student there, Rukia is suffering emotionally. Who will help her? IchigoRukia ..Editing in progress..
1. Leaving and Starting

**AN: A little idea struck me, when I was bored…and most of the good fanfics hadn't been updated…and I read all the ones that were updated…and no one was reading my other fanfic…blah blah XD… Anyway, since this story is AU please excuse any OOCness you find. It's kinda hard to write IchiRuki when both of them don't like expressing their feelings..but that's the challenge right? Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Return to no Home – Chapter 1: Leaving and Starting**

_A fanfiction written by MultipleCyrosis_

Kurosaki Ichigo. The breeze slightly lifted his orange hair, which hung lazily on his forehead. He shivered momentarily. Today was freezing, and being out in the wee hours of the morning didn't help the cold.

In front of the gates of the school he just stood there, the stillness about him suggested peace in his mind. However, in his mind, anything but peace reigned.

_Why…did she die?_

Pain was etched along his chiseled face. It was rare to see such complete and utter sadness. Unfortunately this was a face that many teenagers make. Too much had lost their families, their friends.

He cursed silently, not even hoping that this new environment he was going to would help his predicament. Right now, school was just a thing that government required him to complete. After it finished he didn't know what he was going to do with his life. Hopefully he would be over her death by then…

- - -

Kuchiki Rukia. The leader of the most popular group in high-school. Petite, raven black hair, and an attitude that would shut down most boys in an instant, if her good looks hadn't smitten them first. Even though most would agree that she looked good when she smiled, right now her face was sad.

She lay in bed, anticipating the year to come. Her hair was ruffled slightly, from sleeping, but she didn't do anything to correct it. Her mind was too busy focusing on what she had been through yesterday.

"_I've been called to a program in the USA."_

"_What?"_

"_I have to take it. They'll pay for my last year of school, and I can also get a job…"_

"_But…that means…"_

"_Yeah…I'll be leaving…Sorry…" _

"_No…"_

"_I love you…"_

"_Don't go!"_

"_Goodbye, Rukia…Take care…"_

"_Renji!"_

Gone. Out of her grasp. Ever since he had been small Renji had been occupied with the 'bigger picture', as he called it. And now, he had left to pursue his dream…something she could hardly grudge against him. It was his personality. But she loved him…dearly…so much so that she couldn't let him go.

_I'll wait for him…_she decided in her mind, as a lone tear made its way down the side of her soft face. Meanwhile, she would just have to get through this last school year without him by her side.

- - -

The doctor surveyed the mess on the floor. They had just moved last night, so most of their things weren't unpacked. He sighed. His kids weren't up, and he didn't expect them to be. They were tired, his kids. Not tired as in they slept late, even though they did, but tired of moving around. Moving around the country of Japan was no easy feat. However, the career path that him and his wife had chosen had required just that. Constant traveling.

Isshin sighed again; as he bent down to open an unpacked box.

_Did I do the right thing, honey?_

The box contained kitchen utensils. Isshin started to grab them and then absentmindedly wondered how they would get along without _her _cooking.

_I'm…we are not going to move anymore. We're back in the place you loved…But without you…We aren't going to move anymore…_

_I know, _he thought as he finished unpacking that box, _that this is what you would have wanted us to do…_

- - -

The school jacket fluttered slightly. Kurosaki Ichigo blinked. "Karakura high-school, huh?" A thought crossed his mind, and he grinned, in spite of what he was feeling.

When his mother was alive, they wouldn't stay in the same place for very long. This meant his school life, and friends changed fairly fast. However, there was one time when his family stayed in the same place for quite a long time. His mother was pregnant with his twin sisters, and the headquarters did not request their movement for an extended amount of time. That was when he was 4 years old. His family, along with two new members, Yuzu and Karin, had settled comfortably for about 4 years, then headquarters had decided that his mum had had enough child-raising time, and they called her and his father to work in a new area.

Those 4 years…was the most memorable thing that happened in his whole life of 18 years. And now, he was back. This area, Karakura, was Yuzu's and Karin's birthplace. At least they would be a bit happier here, Ichigo mentally told himself. But him…This area…he should be happy to be here…but he wasn't. The whole reason why they were here was because his _mother _had died.

Last night, his father had given him a short talk after his sisters had fallen asleep.

"_We aren't going to be moving after this."_

"_Huh?"_

"_You heard me. I'm starting up a permanent clinic here."_

"_Dad…"_

"_It'll be better for your sisters."_

"_Yeah…"_

So they weren't going to be moving around after this. Great. The time the family decided to stop moving around was when he only had one year of high-school left. Well, at least Karin and Yuzu wouldn't have to move anymore.

He absentmindedly took a look at his watch. He knew he had gotten here _way _early, but that was only because he wanted to take a walk around the block, to see if any thing rang a bell. None did, however, but Ichigo didn't mind. He only thought it natural since he hadn't been here for 10 years. But one thing…

- - -

_7:30 AM_

Time to get up. Rukia groaned. She didn't want to go to school. She was feeling…crap. In spite of her thoughts she still sat up, and got out of her bed. She glanced at her window to see what the weather was like, so she could plan what clothes she was going to wear.

Her eyes widened slightly, in surprise.

The window of the house next door, which was level with her window, had the vertical blinds open. That house was abandoned...wasn't it? But she wasn't mistaken. There was now a bed, and some furniture haphazardly scattered about the room. She shook the thoughts from her head, and reminded herself what she was looking out the window for. It was slightly sunny, but still…she opened her window and stuck a slender hand out to test the temperature. Slightly chilly.

As she walked to the bathroom, she couldn't help but wonder who had moved into the house next door.

As she showered, her thoughts turned back to Renji. The cocky, red-haired guy that she had been with since she entered high-school. Looking back now, she couldn't believe that she had been with him so long. But now…she shook her head, causing water to splat on the shower walls. They were still together…He had just gone…for a little while.

Rukia changed into her school uniform, but as she walked out of her room, she grabbed her school jacket and scarf. As she walked to the kitchen, in an attempt to keep her mind off Renji she pondered upon whether her new neighbours were going to be nice, friendly, loud, angry…whether they had kids about her age…at that point her thoughts fell back on her boyfriend.

- - -

_7:30AM_

Ichigo looked up from his wristwatch. Damn. It was still way to early for school. His stomach grumbled. Oh well, he might as well go back to his home to get a bite to eat. He trudged the 15-minute walk to his house, and noted without much interest that the house next to them was colossal.

Hell, it was a mansion. He momentarily wondered about the people that lived there. Definitely snobs, he decided. You couldn't own a house like that without being a rich snob. And, they had built a fancy high fence around their land, which only encouraged Ichigo's thoughts. Too good to be included with the rest of community he supposed. With that last thought, he entered his house.

**AN: Well, what do you think… I know it's a bit gloomy and doomy but oh well…hehehe, well this is just a little fic I wanted to write so yeah…Hopefully, if it gets enough support I'll continue it fast...for now its just a secondary thing I'm doing...I really should finish writing ASJ first... Cyaz!  
**


	2. The First Day, Glances

**AN: After writing a massive chapter on ASJ, I decided I wanted a break. Guess where the break was? XD lol, well, some people seem to interested in this little story, so here I am, writing this story just for you. Isshin might seem a bit OOC but…you gotta forgive him, after all his wife just died recently. Oh, and if you want to deepen your experience with this fic, you should play "Eye of the Tiger when Ichigo comes into school. HAHAH Seriously. Really gets you in the mood. ROFL**

**-Sorry I couldn't get this out earlier...site was down for a while **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach…**

- - -

**Return to no Home: The First Day, Glances**

- - -

"HI-YA!" is what Ichigo expected to hear, as he opened the front door. Actually what he heard was a calm, "Oh, you weren't sleeping Ichigo?"

If Ichigo hadn't been so down at the moment he would have fallen over. His father didn't attack him as he walked into the house! What was going on? Ichigo looked at his father carefully. "Old man. You sure you feeling ok?"

His father grinned, but it was sad. "Just give me a couple more days."

Ichigo nodded slowly. Of course. Even someone like Isshin Kurosaki had feelings. After all, mother had died just three weeks ago.

"Well, I'm just here to have breakfast."

His father looked up from his unpacking, and a sad look crossed his face. "Uh…I'll make something up…"

Oh yeah. Mum wasn't around to cook for them. Ichigo mentally slapped himself. It was too hard to adjust.

"Don't worry…I'll make something," Ichigo told his father. Usually Ichigo didn't even talk to his father, but now, with the death of his mother…it sort of broke down barriers between father and son.

A few moments later, Ichigo stood in front of their new stove, cooking pancakes. He had donned an apron, which was bright pink. It was the only one he could find, in the midst of all the boxes they needed to unpack. Another time, Ichigo would have probably cared. But now, he didn't give a damn. Actually, another time, Ichigo wouldn't be cooking…

Something went _plop _on the pan, and the oil hissed angrily.

Isshin looked up from his box-unpacking to see what had made the noise. He saw his son, standing there, his back rigid. Something about the way his son was standing reminded him of a time, long ago…

_…flashback..._

"Ichigo? Are you ok?" Isshin ran over to his 6-year-old son, standing in the middle of a football field. Ichigo was standing straight, his back rigid, like he was staring at something.

His clothes had dirt marks over them, and his orange hair was ruffled. His skin had several cuts and grazes upon them.

_He seems ok._

Isshin turned his 6-year-old son around to face him. "Yo. What happened? Di…" his voice died off. Tears were streaming down Ichigo's face as he cried silently.

...

_Well son…you're big now, you wouldn't want me to comfort you like last time…_

Ichigo just stood there, motionless, flipping pancakes.

- - -

Rukia finished off her traditional Japanese breakfast, and ran back up her stairs. As she passed her bedroom on the way to the bathroom she noticed the window of the neighbour's house.

As she brushed her teeth, she thought about what her brother had told her as she was having breakfast.

"_We have new neighbours."_

"_Oh? That's nice." Rukia paused, unsure of what to say. Her relationship with her brother was…limited. "Er…I hope they're nice."_

"_Hmm…" was his short reply._

She finished brushing her teeth, and looked at the drain, as the bubbles from the toothpaste swirled around, and around, and around.

_I wonder who they are…_

She stopped by her room to grab her schoolbag.

- - -

"Ok. I'll be leaving in a couple of minutes."

His father looked up from the last box. "Ok."

Ichigo dashed up the stairs, brushed his teeth quickly, then at looked himself in the mirror. He was wearing his school uniform, a sickly white shirt that was tucked into grey dress pants. He wore his pants on his hips, as was the accepted fashion among teenage boys. Wrapped around his waist was a white belt, matching his white socks.

He looked at his watch. He would have enough time.

Stopping by his bedroom to grab his schoolbag, he noticed that the blinds of his window were open. Absentmindedly he made his way towards the window to close them.

- - -

As she looked up one last time from retrieving her schoolbag off the ground, she saw _him. _

For a couple of moments she just stared. Bright orange hair, a face that looked like it never smiled, and dressed in her school uniform, was trying to close the blinds.

_A boy?_

- - -

As he was struggling to close the blinds he noticed that he could see right into one of the neighbour's bedrooms, as it was adjacent to his. Must have slipped his mind last night, in the hurry of moving. Shrugging the thought away, he finally got a hang of how to close the blinds.

And then he saw her. It was just a fleeting glimpse, but he saw raven coloured hair, a white school uniform, and a short grey skirt that matched his grey pants. The same school?

Before he could wonder more, the blinds shut. Ichigo blinked. So _now _they decided to close.

- - -

"Rukia." Her brother's voice, even though soft, still carried all the way upstairs. "Are you going to school?"

"A-ah, yes. I'll be right there nii-sama!"

As she sat in the car, she peered anxiously at her neighbour's house. Maybe she would see _that _guy. No such luck.

Her brother drove her quickly and safely to school as he usually did. "Take care."

"I will. Thank-you, nii-sama." And with that, she opened the door of their black Mercedes Benz, trying to ignore the giggles that floated down from _all _the windows on _all _the floors of the school.

As usual, most of the female population of the school had gathered around to get a glimpse at the infamous Kuchiki Byakuya. Rukia shrugged. She was used to this treatment.

Ever since her first day of high school, when her brother had driven her, there were always groups of girls ogling over her brother. Disgusting, she decided as she walked through the school gates.

"I can tell just what you're thinking by your face," a cheery voice interrupted her thoughts.

Rukia looked up to meet the happy smile of one of her close friends. A girl with rather large…err…assets, strawberry blonde hair, looks that would make most guys drool, if they weren't busy looking elsewhere, Rangiku Matsumoto.

Rukia smiled back. "Good morning," she replied to her friend's comment. Even though Matsumoto did have looks that would probably place her in the 'snobbish, posh' group, she wasn't. Once you got to know her, it was obvious that she was quite the opposite, a rather down-to-earth girl, if not a bit lazy.

The girl had been attracted to Rukia's quietness during the first term of their high school together, and the two friends had stuck together since.

"I know what you're thinking," Matsumoto sighed to herself, "You're probably plotting some way to squish all those girls who are currently drooling over your brother."

"Um. No." Rukia's reply was as bland as she could make it.

"Whatever," Matsumoto paused, looking back at the spot where her Mercedes Benz had been, "You can't really blame them, though. Your brother _is _hot, regardless of what you think."

"Ugh. Could you _not _talk about my brother like that?"

Her friend laughed. "Fine, fine, but I'm only saying what every other girl in school is saying."

"Yeah, that's why its disgusting."

"Grades seven upwards, just so you know."

Rukia sighed. But inwardly, it was good to get back to school. Enough moping about over Renji. But, she missed him badly. If this was a normal year, right now he'd be by her side, glaring at _any _guy that happened to chance his gaze of her. Either that, or he'd be boasting about the mark he got in the last test, or trying to crack a stupid joke.

Matsumoto was still blabbering on about how she should keep an open mind, because even if Byakuya _was _her brother, he still was hot, and that was undeniable.

Rukia let out another sigh, this time rather loud. She glared at her friend to stop blabbering, even though she knew that Matsumoto was only doing it to cheer her up.

"Seriously. If you want to cheer me up, it is not done by telling me about how hot my brother is," she said as she stopped in front of her locker.

Matsumoto stopped with her. "Aw, you found out what I was trying to do." She pouted prettily, then shifted her voice into a much more serious tone. "I know you miss him, Rukia."

"Hmmph." That was all the emotion she was going to convey to her friend. "Anyway, don't worry about me. He told me he's coming back so…" her voice drifted off as she felt the insides of her locker to retrieve her school shoes.

"Yeah…but still…" Matsumoto grabbed her school shoes from inside her locker. She was just worried about her friend. Yesterday, when Renji had told Rukia that he was going, she hadn't taken it very well. Not very well at all. She had received a phone call from Rukia late that afternoon, when Renji had told her.

…_flashback…_

"_Hello?"_ After a few moments of silence, she finally heard the voice on the other line speak.

"_Matsumoto?"_

"_Yes? Rukia?"_

"_C-can…we meet somewhere?"_

"_What? We've got school tomorrow. Isn't it a bit late?"_

"_Please…"_

Something in Rukia's voice hit Matusumoto. She sighed. _"Ok, meet me at the park."_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

_What could have happened? _Matsumoto wondered as she walked to the nearby park. Rukia was already there, sitting alone on the park bench. Daylight was fading fast.

"Rukia?" Matsumoto asked, standing in front of the other girl. Rukia had her hands in front of her face. She was crying.

"Rukia, what's wrong?"

"Renji…"

…

Matsumoto wondered to herself as she put on her school shoes in the locker area. Was she really ok? Knowing Rukia, she would just bottle it all inside. When she had left yesterday, she seemed ok, but that probably was just a shell. At least, for now she seemed ok, but she wished that Rukia would open up more. It would help her problems become a lot easier to handle.

Even talking to Renji, when Rukia encountered a rather emotional time when a close friend of hers had passed away, Rukia choose to spoke little of what hurt her. Renji seemed to understand that she bottled things away, so he let her. All he could do was be there for her.

She finished putting on her other shoe, and she waited for Rukia to do the same. Rukia was taking an awfully long time. She looked to where her friend was standing. And she was doing exactly that. She was just standing, or more precisely, staring.

Rangiku followed her friend's gaze, and saw what she was staring at. And so was half the school.

A kid with bright orange hair had entered through the school gate. A permanent frown was upon his face as he walked the distance between the school gate and the locker area. He seemed oblivious to the ruckus he was causing. How could that be? Whispers could be even heard from where Matsumoto and Rukia stood.

"Is that a new guy?"

"Look at his hair." Giggles.

"Does that guy think he's tough? Because he's dyed his hair orange?"

"Pfft. What a try-hard."

"Does he _want _to stand out?"

"I can't believe the school would allow someone like _him _into here."

"I bet he thinks he'll be popular." Sneers.

"I hate try-hards."

The bright orange hair really stood out. The guy himself, well, his uniform was worn properly. Well, almost properly, Matsumoto noticed. He had tucked his shirt in, but his pants were worn at his hips. He walked with his school bag draped over his shoulder, and his grey school jacket matched his pants.

Half the school's eyes were on him as he walked down the pathway. The guy still seemed oblivious to all the attention. Until Matsumoto heard what someone said, when the orange-haired boy had reached around halfway to the locker area.

"Do you think you're tough, kid?" Her ears pricked at the sound of that voice. Jack Grimmjow. Better known as Jaguar. The guy had an elvis-style hair cut, and a jaw that stuck out to the sides. It suited his name. That voice belonged to the leader of a gang of seniors that bullied anyone weaker than them. Strength comes in numbers, so that meant basically everyone.

However, he had left the girl's group alone, but only because they were the most popular group in the school. Also, with Renji hanging around them because of Rukia, the risk wasn't really worth it, as most people knew Renji was a seasoned street fighter. He had demonstrated that when he was only in eighth grade, when Grimmjow had tried to flirt with Rukia.

The orange haired kid stopped. This was the only comment that was actually directed _at_ him.

"So, you've finally got up the nerve to actually say something _to _me." The whole school almost let out a gasp simultaneously. The kid was practically signing his death wish.

"Ohohoho… So you can talk trash, eh?" Grimmjow signalled to the rest of his gang, who slank out of the shadows. "Let's see how well that mouth talks after we're done with you."

Rangiku groaned. It was the first day of school, and a fight already? She peeked at her friend. Rukia just stood there, staring, her other shoe forgotten on the wooden floor.

The tension heightened as Grimmjow and his group of thugs moved towards the orange haired kid. Some of his gang members had moved around to behind the boy, encircling him.

"We should get help."

Rangiku looked down in surprise at her short friend, surprised that she actually cared. "Yeah…" But the both of them didn't move. They wanted to know what would happen.

- - -

**AN: And so do you! (Want to know what happens that is) XD lol, well that's enough for tonight, my head is hurting from looking at the screen too much. Otherwise, I would've written the fight XD… For the character who would do the bad guy gang member sort of thing, I did think of Zaraki, who would fit the physical description, but I kinda like Zaraki's character, because he doesn't want to fight people who are weak. … lol…anyway, since this fic is secondary to ASJ, the only reason why I will update will be…reviews XD!**


	3. The First Day, Fight

**AN: Hey guys, bye guys, thanks for reviewing guys! I love your reviews! Keep em coming! And, I might just update a bit faster next time ;)  
Just to make things interesting, and a bit more 'cooler' Hitsugaya is (in here) the same height as Ichigo. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach… I also do not own the song, "Do you want to get Funky" by C & C Music Factory. Lol...you'll see what I mean...  
**

**

* * *

**

**Return to no Home – The First Day, Fight**

**

* * *

**

Ichigo looked around him casually. This was no different from all the other crap he received, from all over Japan. Well, what was he thinking, that in this area everyone would be nice?

He was glad when one of the comments was actually directed at him. The other comments hurt, but it wasn't as if he could do anything about it. When the leader of the 'tough gang' said something directly to him he knew he'd take it to a fight.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a couple of the gang members scurry around him, until finally, they encircled him. Pfft, these type of guys. He had fought their type before. Only strong in numbers. However, he noticed that the guy who spoke to him probably could be a good fighter by himself, but probably wanted the reassurance of winning, so he fought with thugs. Well, no matter, he was going to beat down each and every single one of them. _Where is that guy anyway?_

They came closer and closer, and soon Ichigo was oblivious to anything else. Including the rest of the school, who had decided to watch his fight.

There were about 20 guys. _It's been worse, _Ichigo decided to himself, as he launched himself at the nearest member.

* * *

Rukia and Matsumoto were still standing in the locker area, unable to move. Not like you could blame them. The rest of the school seemed mesmerised by this new kid that had thrown back an insult at the leader of the worse gang in school without batting an eyelash. 

They just stood there, and then Rukia let out a little gasp. The boy had jumped on the nearest member.

* * *

Ichigo quickly finished off the first member. He was rather slow at blocking Ichigo's attack, but that was probably because he wasn't used to his prey suddenly jumping and attacking him. Ichigo had kneed him in the stomach and then threw him on to the next gang member. 

Now that the element of surprise was gone, it was going to be a bit harder. Ichigo thought that he should probably jump on the next member, before they recovered from their shock of him taking out one of their members. Then he heard someone behind him jump.

Letting his fast reflexes take over, he turned around without thinking and smashed his fist into the approaching face, hearing the satisfying crunch of cartilage and bone. His attacker fell face down, but before he hit the ground Ichigo lifted his foot up and kicked as hard as he could. The guy went flying and landed on his back, blood spurting out of his nose and jaw.

_Two down._

Since the rest of the members had seen two of their own go down before their very eyes, they would probably attack in numbers now.

* * *

The school grounds were silent, the orange haired kid had taken up most of the attention. Well, it was almost silent. There was a distinct noise coming from one of the classrooms. 

"Why the hell is it so quiet all of a sudden outside," Hitsugaya wondered out loud, after his sharp ears missed the chatter that usually rose up to the classrooms from the entrance of the school. "And turn that music down, its hard to think in here!" he shouted at his two friends that were dancing at the back of the class to the song, "Do you want to get Funky" by C & C Music Factory. Ugh. He hated hip-hop.

"Well, sor-EE," one of them said sarcastically, as they turned the volume knob down a few notches. "Just cause you and girlfriend can't flirt in peace doesn't mean…AHH!"

Hitsugaya had thrown a spare textbook at the speaker. "Shut-up, Ikkaku."

Meanwhile, the other person spoken about started blushing, and she made some excuse to get out of the classroom.

"Now, now, it won't do to get mad, you should be setting a good example. Since you are, after all, the school captain, Shiro-chan," a disgustingly feminine voice piped up. Unfortunately, it came from a guy, a guy who was obsessed with beauty.

Hitsugaya looked at the speaker. "Don't call me Shiro-chan, you disgusting freak." He was a bit annoyed that Hinamori had to leave the classroom due to his two friends and their stupid jokes.

The other guy known as Yumichika pretended to look hurt. "Oh, but I want to call you by such a _cute _name."

Damn. Where was that other textbook? It was around here somewhere, he knew. Ah, there it is. As he was about to make the textbook into a projectile of rather fast velocity, Hinamori's voice interrupted him.

"Shiro-chan! Come quick, there's a fight at the entrance of the school!"

Crap. That's why it had gone so quiet all of a sudden. One minute he looked down over the entrance of the school and it looked as if Grimmjow was behaving himself. Next minute, it looked like there was a fight.

At the sound of the word _fight _he felt his two other friends prick up. Ikkaku and Yumichika hated the gang that beat up people weaker than them. Well, so did the rest of the school, but these two were part of a few people that could actually fight back and did, on occasion.

"Oi." That was all that was needed, and his two friends zipped out of the classroom, however not before Ikkaku had taken out their CD just to keep it safe from Hitsugaya. As Ikkaku ran down the hall with his friend, he noticed that the reception office was empty. An evil idea formed in his mind, and he tugged on Yumichika's sleeve.

* * *

"Shiro-chan?" 

Hitsugaya looked over at the female school captain, who also was his girlfriend. "Yeah, yeah, I'll go down." He grabbed his school jacket, and walked out the classroom, followed by Hinamori. "I suppose since we are the school captain's, we better break this fight up."

Hinamori nodded in agreement.

* * *

Ichigo supposed that two members would attack from opposite sides. After all, he hadn't aggravated them enough so that they would _all _jump on him. Sure enough, as he stood there in a fighting stance, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, that two members were making eye contact. 

He readied himself. One from the front, and another from his back. It would probably do to knock out the guy behind him first, as it'd be annoying trying to fight properly with a guy smashing him from behind. That guy behind him was also big, he noted mentally. Then…

Without looking he extended his foot behind him to hit…empty air? Jeez, that was stupid, he thought. They didn't attack fast enough. Or was that guy waiting for that opportunity. No way. These were street thugs. Since when did they think about this kind of stuff?

As Ichigo tried to lower his foot he found that he couldn't. He quickly glanced behind him and saw the guy that was _supposed _to attack clutching onto his leg. He really had waited for Ichigo to attack, so he could do exactly this.

The other thug grinned, and glanced around the circle at the remaining gang members for appreciation. He then roughly yanked Ichigo's foot up in the air, so that Ichigo fell face first. He saw the ground rushing towards him at terrific speed.

Before his head became a decoration on the pavement, he quickly put out his hands in front of him to bear the brunt of the fall. The guy who caught his leg looked amazed that the orange haired kid had withstood his attack. He probably does this to every single weak guy in school, that's why he's so used to it working, Ichigo thought to himself, as he saw the bewildered look cross the guy's face.

Enough thinking. Using powerful leg muscles, he twisted his leg, which was still in the other guy's grasp, but the big thug didn't give. From his position on the ground, Ichigo knew he would only have one chance. Since the guy's grip was tough, Ichigo decided that he would have to kick him with his free leg. That was no easy feat when one of your legs was being held.

Ichigo placed his free foot on the ground and jumped. The momentum from his jump twisted his foot that was captured, but the other guy held on tightly.

_Just what I want, _Ichigo thought to himself, as his whole body twisted in the air. Using the guy's hand as an anchor, he used his free leg to kick the guy in the face. Hard. The big guy let go of his prize to clutch the side of his face. Ichigo landed softly back on the ground, but as soon as his foot touched the ground it left again to kick the big guy in the groin.

He was going to be out for a while.

_Three down, _he thought as he watched the other members carefully. He heard the next person jump behind him, but his reflexes had slowed a bit, and the guy got onto his back, and had his neck in a strangle hold.

_Crap. _He tried to escape from the strangle hold, but felt that it felt strangely heavy. He tried to move his arms but found that they were immobile. The sneaky bastards. They had waited until he was surprised, then had held him down.

Then Grimmjow walked through the circle smiling a cruel victorious smile. Ichigo glanced up at the guy who was obviously their leader. The guy bent down a bit to stare Ichigo in the face. "So, let's see if that mouth can talk trash now, brat."

Ichigo spat in the leader's face. Grimmjow took a step back, horrified at the feeling of saliva on his face. In a moment he recovered, as he wiped the offending spit off.

"I'll kill you." He finally whispered, his voice shaking with anger.

Ichigo grinned. A small cruel grin. Even though he couldn't do anything at the present moment, he still successfully had angered that stupid gang leader. But things looked bad now, as the guy had signalled his thugs to hold him down. The leader got something out of his pocket.

_Crap. _Knuckledusters. Ichigo had been prepared to take a few hits, but this looked bad. He could be seriously injured.

_WHAM! _The first hit knocked the wind out of him.

The leader let out an evil grin. "I'll make you regret spitting on me."

Without batting an eyelid Ichigo said, "I'll do it again if you come close."

_WHAM! _Crap. Those things really did hurt. A lot.

"What did you say?"

"You're an asshole."

He waited for the next blow but surprisingly there was none. He looked up to see a guy standing in front of him. He blinked. What the hell? Did the guy in front of him just block the shot? He saw the guy's hand clenched around something at his side, and he realised that the guy had caught the punch. That would have hurt, especially with those knuckledusters. Sure enough, he saw some blood dripping through the clenched fist.

"I think that's enough, Grimmjow."

The guy wore his uniform perfectly, Ichigo noted.

The student named Grimmjow drew back. "Ah, if it isn't _little _school captain, Hitsugaya."

Ichigo wondered what the hell Grimmjow was talking about. This guy named Hitsugaya, who apparently was the school captain, was probably about as tall as him.

"I'd watch your mouth, Grimmjow."

As the school captain uttered these words, two blurs came out of nowhere and attacked the group at Ichigo's back. Soon, there was only one guy holding on to Ichigo. Ichigo twisted his neck around to grin at him to put the guy off guard. His grip loosened slightly, and Ichigo grinned, and he freed his elbow to smash the guy in the jaw. He went out cold.

Ichigo directed his attention to the person that had caught the punch. His hair was white and it was spiked directly upwards, making him look like a Dragon ball z character. He was so engrossed with examining the persons that had saved him that he failed to notice some music playing in the background.

"…I'll get you, _Captain _Hitsugaya."

"Yes you will, but I wonder, with whom?" The school captain inquired lightly, pointing behind him at the fighting mass that was formerly known as Grimmjow's group.

"Hn." Grimmjow wrenched his knuckledusters out from Hitsugaya's hand, and noted with some satisfaction that there was blood on it.

"You better watch out too, you orange haired piece of shit." With that the gang leader walked away.

Ichigo just stood there, watching the back of the school captain. He looked behind him and noted that the gang of thugs that had attacked him were now lying on the ground in various positions, no doubt courtesy of two students standing triumphantly in the middle of them.

One of the kids had a head that was bald as bald could be, and the other guy, if it wasn't for his school uniform would have been mistaken for a girl. Weird couple.

Before Ichigo could muse about the weird people that had saved him, he felt a sharp pain shoot into his stomach area. After a few seconds of clutching his stomach he blanked out. He dimly remembered the teenager named Hitsugaya yelling, "Oi! Ikkaku! Why the hell is your CD on the loudspeaker?"

And then the bald guy answering, "Oh. I wanted some music when I was fighting."

* * *

**AN: Ugh. That was too long for my liking. But it sure was fun to write about Ikkaku and Yumichika. And, I'm not too good at writing action, so just bear with it for a bit ok? Ok. THANKS! XD Lol, and if any of you have heard that song I mentioned, it is quite the hip-hop stereotype. I just imagined that that would be the type of music that would be playing when Ikkaku and Yumichika would fight. Ok..I'm weird. But you can listen to it if you want..hahaha **

**Please review! Thankyou to my readers from ASJ who have also read this fic. I'm really touched XD  
**


	4. The First Day, Class

**AU: **Ah, thank you to all who reviewed. Aww, I was going to wait until I got ten reviews for this chapter, but it looks like 6 is all I'll get. Oh well. I want you guys to read this next chapter anyway. Actually I originally intended this story to be a rather angsty story, but I find it pretty hard to keep the angsty theme running throughout a whole story of Bleach. That, and I also get depressed. Lol, so this might just turn into the romantic drama…hehehe you never know… :P Actually, right now I'm thinking of what music to put into the scenes in the chapter below. Ok, enough babbling, here is another chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach…

**

* * *

**

**Return to no Home: The First Day, Class**

**

* * *

**

Rukia let out the breath she didn't know she was holding when the school captain came to the orange haired kid's rescue. 

Matsumoto eyed her friend carefully. Rukia wasn't usually worried by that gang's actions, dismissing it as immature, and childish. So why did she look so worried when this kid was attacked? Though, she had to admit, that there was something about the kid that made people look at him differently. And, that bastard, Grimmjow had pounded the guy with knuckledusters! It was as if school wasn't a safe place anymore. Even though, it never really was, ever since Grimmjow and his gang had entered.

* * *

After shouting to his friends to get the music off the loudspeaker, he turned to the orange haired kid to ask him if he was all right. He wasn't. The guy was now lying face down on the ground. 

_He must have taken a pretty big beating._

Hitsugaya bent down and lifted into an upright position. "Oi, Ikkaku, help me out here."

Ikkaku walked over and surveyed the orange haired kid. "Pfft. This guy is a weakling. Getting knocked out after a couple of punches."

"A couple of punches with a knuckleduster. Yeah, pretty weak," Hitsugaya retorted to his friend sarcastically, not bothering to look at his friend's reaction. "Come on, help me get him to the infirmary."

Ikkaku bent down and put one of the arms of the new kid over his back. Hitsugaya did the same, so that the weight was shared evenly between the two friends.

Around them, the school was slowly returning to normal. It never did to take close notice to what Grimmjow's gang did. It was too dangerous. Hitsugaya looked at the school. Cowards. But he couldn't really blame them. Grimmjow was dangerous.

They walked slowly, to avoid jolting their patient. As they walked down the path to the locker area, students made sure that they had big enough leeway. _They _didn't want to get involved.

As they entered the locker area, Hitsugaya noticed his two friends, Rukia and Matsumoto. He waved to them with his free arm. Matsumoto waved back, but Rukia was concentrating too much on the boy to notice.

"Hey guys…"

"Hey, Toushirou…"

Hitsugaya noticed their questioning glances. He sighed. "I'll talk to you guys at lunch. Right now…" he gestured to their patient.

Matsumoto nodded. "Cya then."

Rukia still looked oblivious to everything that had been said. She was still concentrating on the boy between him and Ikkaku.

* * *

"Oi, snap out of it, woman." Matsumoto clicked her fingers in front of Rukia's face, when Hitsugaya and Ikkaku had left. "We have this thing called class in a minute." 

Rukia still didn't respond. "Hello?"

"Huh?"

Matsumoto sighed. "Look, you can check that guy out later. Right now we have class."

"Wha- HEY! I wasn't checking him out!" Rukia blushed slightly. "He just looked familiar…"

"Whatever." Matsumoto grinned at her friend. "Lets go already. You can meet that new guy at lunch."

"Pfft," she glared at her friend, but she didn't say anymore, and followed her to their first class.

* * *

"So, will he be all right?" 

The kind school nurse known as Unohana turned to the school captain before answering, "Yes, he'll be fine. He'll wake up at about lunchtime I think."

She fiddled around with her instruments a second longer before saying, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to the head about this."

Hitsugaya suddenly sat up straighter. "What? Why? Didn't I tell you what happened already?"

Unohana just smiled as she walked out of the infirmary. "Sorry, Toushirou, but I'm afraid his injuries are a bit too serious to be waved off as just 'falling down'".

The school captain sighed as the nurse walked out of the room. It was common school practice, whenever you, or somebody else got in a fight to say, 'I fell down'. No matter how serious the situation, students always said that to avoid further trouble.

However, this time…Hitsugaya looked at the student lying on the sickbed. He knew why the student had been singled out by Grimmjow and his gang. His hair was bright orange. Ever since he knew Grimmjow, he knew he had something against people that stood out too much. He had, after all had his own personal encounter with the guy.

"Shiro-chan?"

A feminine voice broke his train of thought.

"Huh? Oh, Hinamori, its you. And don't call me Shiro-chan." He thought for a moment, then exclaimed, "Why aren't you in class?"

"Oh…The nurse told me to come and see you," Hinamori looked to the door where Unohana exited. "She didn't tell me why though." She looked at her boyfriend. He looked back up at her.

"Oh! What happened to your hand?"

"Huh? Oh, this." He held up his hand, looking at the dried blood. "Its nothing…"

"Yeah right, its nothing. Let me treat that." She turned around to find the bandages that Unohana usually kept in one of the many cupboards in this room.

Hitsugaya blushed over the attention Hinamori gave him. Despite being her boyfriend for most of her high school life he still acted awkward around her, and vice versa. They loved each other, but somehow they just couldn't get over their shyness towards one another.

Hinamori turned around after finding the bandages she needed, and proceeded to disinfect the wound on his hand. Hitsugaya looked away as she bandaged his hand.

"Ano…Shiro-chan?"

He turned back to his girlfriend, thankful that his blush had gone away due to the seriousness in her voice. "Yeah?"

Hinamori pointed to the boy that lay on the bed. "What's up with him?"

"Well, Unohana said that he'd be alright. But she was really surprised when she saw the impact of the fight." He paused in thought. "It's the most serious fighting case she's seen."

"So that means…"

"Yeah. She didn't buy the normal excuse this time."

Hinamori looked at the boy on the bed again. "I hope he doesn't get too much flak, now that the teachers are going to investigate this."

"Yeah…Well, we'd better go to class."

Hitsugaya stood up and walked out of the infirmary, followed by Hinamori.

"Remind me to check up on him at lunch time. Unohana said that that would be the time that he'd wake up."

Hinamori followed her boyfriend down the empty school hallways, lost in thought.

* * *

"…And throughout the next chapter we see that Shakespeare has included certain characteristics out of the play to provide us with a deeper understanding…" 

That was what the teacher _was _saying. What Rukia heard was "Blah blah blah x 50"

Usually she listened to everything the teacher said, but the events this morning had taken her mind off school. She was still thinking about that boy she saw. She remembered the bright orange hair. Could the boy that lay in the infirmary now be the same one that she had caught a glance of when she left her house?

No, it had to be a coincidence that both of them had orange hair. She satisfied herself with that answer, and tried to concentrate on the English lesson.

"…"

Not working.

* * *

Matsumoto looked over to where her friend was sitting. Rukia usually sat at her desk like a picture perfect student, pretty, smiling, and attentive. But now, she was staring blankly ahead of her, her dark eyes clouded over. Matsumoto sighed. It must be that orange-haired guy from this morning, she concluded. Ever since Matsumoto had met Rukia in 7th grade, there was always one secret that managed to stay a secret. All Matsumoto knew was that it had something to do with a boy with orange hair when Rukia was just a child. 

Matsumoto looked around the class. At the front sat Hitsugaya, the school captain. He was hard to miss because of his straight white hair. For some reason, his hair had been white ever since he had been born; the doctors had tried to explain it by saying there a portion of DNA code missing, but Hitsugaya always told everyone that it was because he was extremely wise. Luckily, Hitsugaya always topped the class, so his bragging wasn't put to the test by anyone.

Next to him was Hinamori. She was the quiet, shy type. She came to the school at the same time as Rukia and Matsumoto. Aside from those two, she didn't have any other female friends. When they befriended her, they had found out whom she liked. She was extremely shy to tell them at first, but in the end they found out that it was Hitsugaya. Both her and Rukia had secretly believed that the poor girl would never have any chance with the white haired student, since he was extremely popular and didn't look like he had interest in girls. However, Hinamori told them that her and Hitsugaya were extremely good friends going back to childhood. Rukia and Matsumoto had been surprised, since the white haired boy never hung around her. In the end, they found out it was because he was too shy to hang around a group of girls.

However, he was extremely protective of Hinamori. Once, he had seen an older guy trying to flirt with the girl, and had fought him straight away.

Matsumoto grinned at the memory, and then looked a few rows up. There sat Ikkaku and Yumichika. Ikkaku was probably the only guy in school that chose to have a baldhead. And, he was extremely sensitive about it. While they were still in year 7, a group of older boys had started pushing him around because of his baldness. But Ikkaku turned out to be a good fighter, and fought off most of them. However, there was just too much of them. Hitsugaya had been walking by at the time and noticed a guy there that had been trying to flirt with Hinamori, and immediately jumped in the fray. Ikkaku thought that the white haired boy was there to help him, so he started hanging around him. Along with Ikkaku came his childhood friend, Yumichika. Yumichika was rather scary, although rather feminine, and confused about his sexuality. Most boys avoided him, but he seemed to share a brotherly bond with Ikkaku.

She turned her gaze to Rukia. There was one empty chair beside her. Renji. The last guy in their group. Renji had shared a good friendship with Ikkaku, and that is how he started hanging around their group. That was when he met Rukia. The two found out rather quickly that they had feelings for one another, and had started going out. Matsumoto believed that it wouldn't last, for it was, after all, year seven. However, going against all the odds, Rukia and Renji never broke up. They had their fights, of course, but in the end they were always together.

Because of the fact that they had two steady couples in their group, the group became rather popular in the school. Hitsugaya attracted enough girls to himself as it was, and Matsumoto had a group of boys that liked to drool in her footsteps. Rukia, though not as much as her friend, also was a girl that guys liked to dream about. Ikkaku, Yumichika and Renji contributed to the group's popularity, even though they didn't know it. They were well known fighters and usually got in a fight a day. Because of this they were well known around the school, because their fights usually were sticking up for someone, or fighting against part of Grimmjow's gang.

Matsumoto looked at Rukia once again. She was still daydreaming. Well, she could daydream, but Matsumoto couldn't. She needed to listen to the stuff the teacher was saying in order to understand it. Still, Matsumoto worried about her friend. Well, no matter, they would meet up with the mysterious orange haired guy this lunchtime. According to Hitsugaya, the poor guy would be out cold till around lunchtime. As expected, really, after being hit rather hard with knuckledusters.

* * *

Rukia sighed. She really needed to concentrate on the lesson. But that guy… 

"Yo."

The whole class looked up as one. The old lady known as their teacher jumped back in surprise.

Regaining her composure, she said, "Excuse me, we're in the middle of a lesson."

"I'm going to your lesson."

This caused the old teacher's eyes to widen. She turned expectantly to the school captain. "Ahem, Hitsugaya, didn't you tell me that the new boy wouldn't be awake until lunchtime?"

The school captain looked astonished, but soon regained his composure. "I was under that impression ma'am."

The old lady glared at the school captain. Then she turned her glare on the boy that was waiting expectantly at the door. "What?"

"Introduce yourself, and then sit down," the teacher said rudely.

The new boy walked in and stood in front of the class. "Yo. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. I'm new." The teacher coughed violently. Ichigo grinned to himself. _That was for being rude, _he thought before continuing. "I like chocolate. I dislike strawberry." A few of the girls giggled. They had seen him fighting Grimmjow's gang and had been impressed. Ichigo noticed this. "I also dislike annoying girls that giggle." The giggles stopped, though some were replaced my intense death glares, and amused smiles from the more mature ones. The boys just pretended that they weren't interested. That comment brought another cough from the teacher. "That's all there is to me." He was about to say something else when he heard the teacher mumble 'finally'.

Ichigo ignored her comment and ignored the stares that the rest of the class was giving him. He glanced quickly around the room to see where he was to sit. The only empty desk in the class was next to the window. Oh well, not like he really minded.

"Hurry about choosing your seat," the old teacher grouched.

That freckin teacher. He was about to sit down anyway. Ichigo put on a sickly sweet voice. "Please, where should I sit, ma'am?"

The old teacher looked like she was about to explode. "O-ver t-h-ere," she gritted out, clenching her hands to her sides.

"Pardon me, ma'am, but I don't exactly know where 'over there' is."

The old teacher bought a fist up to her face, veins popping everywhere. She slowly pointed to the empty seat and turned around.

_Haha…serves you right, woman, _Ichigo thought as he made his way to the desk. As he walked by the desk, he could feel the stares of the class weighing down on his back. Time to ignore everyone.

Then he saw _her_.

* * *

**AN:** HAHAHA! I LOVE CLIFFY'S! lolz… anyway, thanks, see if you like, read and review, all that lame stuff…I'll see you guys later XD…Now, sorry this chapter wasn't as interesting as the last, but you know, character build-up and back-stories are a necessity in AU fics…so yeah, that should explain the ramblings somewhere in the middle of this chapter :P don't get bored, I didn't. 

Don't worry! I'll have more fights! hehehe


	5. The First Day, The Middle

**AN: **Hey guys, wow – its been a pretty long time since I've updated. Well, not really…compared to some other people – but still, long by my standards. Oh well, can't really say I didn't warn you. Thank you to the reviewers XD And, do not worry – I will finish this fic…someday…and, since you all waited patiently - I have made this chapter pretty damn long!

Ok, now, there seems to be a lot of flashbacks during this chapter – well, maybe not a lot but, they intertwine a lot with the present time (you'll see what I mean). Therefore, I didn't label it 'Flashback' as I usually do. But its pretty easy to tell, anyway.

Anyway, any OOC – get over it. It's AU.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach.

* * *

**Return to no Home – The First Day, The Middle**

**

* * *

**

Class had gone normally – well as most students would have defined normally. Sure there was the usual groaning when the teacher handed out the work to do for the day, the everyday chit-chat that _always _occurs in high-school classrooms – but, Rukia told herself, something was definitely different about this class.

And everyone knew what – rather, who – was causing it. Well, not everyone, obviously the person didn't know that he was causing the class to act differently. Aside from his earlier verbal bout with the teacher, the _new _kid had settled down pretty comfortably. Rukia, upon hearing his rudeness, had expected him to continue his rudeness throughout the whole class. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the boy did not do anything to attract any more attention. He _did _not do anything, but he attracted attention nonetheless.

There were the 'tough' guys, in the class. They sat near the back, jeering and cracking rather loud jokes to each other. Some of them included the words 'try-hard' and 'loser' in the same sentence. The jeering never got loud enough for them to get in trouble, but it was audible. After the teacher assigned them a small task that would take them the rest of the lesson, she went out of the classroom, and the jeering quickly escalated. Upon hearing a rather gruesome comment being directed to the guy named 'Kurosaki Ichigo', she turned to her side, half expecting him to lash out some rebuttal like he did at the front of the school. But he didn't. To her amazement, he was sitting at his desk, working (well it looked like it) quite diligently. The guys at the back of the class eventually left him alone, but he gave no notice to them whatsoever. It was like he was a different person in class – or maybe he was actually smart. Rukia juggled these two ideas in her head. She turned back to her work, scribbling down a few points. After a while, she looked up to see who else was looking at the new kid.

There were the 'popular' girls in the class. They were in the process of giggling and passing notes to each other like eighth graders. However, unlike eight graders, they were saying such shameless things in his hearing range. She heard an, 'Oh my gosh! How HOT is he?', and then she wrinkled her nose in disdain. She _hated _their type. Always fawning and swooning over some 'cute' guy. Oh, sure Rukia acknowledged whether a guy was 'cute' or not, but she certainly didn't go throwing herself at the person's feet, like some rabid fangirl.

She looked again at the guy next to her, to see if he paid any attention to the ludicrous comments directed at him. He didn't. He merely continued working quietly, even when one girl said – shouted, "I REALLY liked the way his MUSCLES bulged when he was fighting."

Ugh. That was disgusting. The things those girls would say. She continued to look at the guy, but if he heard the stupid girls, he didn't let on. Rukia marvelled to herself. This guy actually was one of the more sensible guys. She hastily bit back that last statement that her mind had automatically made for her. This guy was a no-good. This guy…he _fought _on the first day of school. If someone fights on the first day of school – they have to be bad, right? She was letting the influence of her older brother wash over her. Still, as she looked at him, she couldn't help wonder at how calm the guy looked when he was working, ignoring each and every single comment – because it was almost impossible to miss the screeches of the girls, and the taunts from the guys.

After a while the noise died down, and Rukia wrote some more notes down on the sheet they were given. Even though she didn't have any excuse to look at the guy beside her, because no one was really saying anything at the moment, she instinctively turned to him. He was still bent over his work, intent on finishing the sheet the teacher had handed out. Suddenly, without warning, he turned and looked at her. Their eyes met for a brief second, before a very embarrassed Rukia broke the stare. How dare she get caught…ugh, she didn't want to say the word…_staring_… at the new guy. That was ridiculous, she thought, while directing her gaze straight down at the paper, though not really reading what it said. How could _she _of all people get caught just…_looking _at him? The guys had been shouting, and he didn't pay them any attention. The girls had been practically shrieking out their undying love/lust for the new guy, and he didn't even bat an eyelid. However, when she just simply looked at him, he decided to turn his head.

Great, now she would probably be embarrassed for the rest of the day and ruin her chances of getting to know him.

Pfft, she thought after a moment of deliberation. Not that she would care anyway.

The only about the guy (and she convinced herself it _was _the _only _thing) that intrigued her was his orange hair. There was something about his orange hair that really struck her.

She studied him again, this time carefully making sure he wouldn't know. Something about the shape of his back, the shape of his back, and the way his orange hair met his neck…it was…

* * *

It was about 6:00PM. The sun hadn't totally disappeared; it was in the process of disappearing. That was why the sky had been orange that day. Rukia remembered perfectly. 

She was a small girl; small for her age. She was sitting on a swing, in a public park; though everyone – parents and their children – had already gone home. So she thought. She was just sitting on the swing, swinging forlornly – that was the only way to describe it. On her face was one a child of 4 years old should _never ever _have. Her raven black hair fluttered a little in the cool afternoon breeze, wayward strands of hair making their way down her face. However, that wasn't the only thing that made their way down her face. The girl was crying. She wasn't _bawling, _like one would expect a 4-year-old child to, but she was crying. Like an adult. No loud shrieking sounds, no yelling, but just simple tears, making their way down her small face. There was the occasional hiccup, but other than that, the girl kept silent; silently crying.

* * *

Ichigo looked slowly up from his work, a good five minutes after he had looked at the girl next to him. Before, when he had looked over to her, just to examine her more closely (in a classmate to classmate view, of course) he had the shock of his life, when he had caught her _staring_. Her, of all people. He expected that, from the way she looked, and composed herself, that she wouldn't be one to stare. Then he realised how stupid his reasoning sounded, and quietly told himself that he was being too flattering – towards himself. As if a girl like that would even think about _staring _at him. 

Even so, he looked up cautiously to see if he could look at her once again; after all, he hadn't had the chance to study her properly. The way her raven black hair was set…it reminded him of…

* * *

He had left the park, a long time ago. Probably sometime that afternoon. The sun was setting, that much was sure – but he didn't mind it. The sky _always _looked orange when it was this time of the day, and he liked it. It didn't make him feel so out of place. With his orange hair, one would imagine that it was probably easy for a kid like him to feel out of place. 

But when he had left the park that day, something had felt different. He couldn't really explain it, but it was like he had lost his favourite toy. After checking if he _did _have all his toys, he realised in horror that he had forgotten to bring his truck home from the sandbox in the park. The boy glanced at the clock on the wall. It read _5:50PM._

Maybe if he ran, he could get back in time for the wonderful dinner his mother was cooking.

The boy known as Ichigo ran as fast as he could down the now nearly empty streets. The sun was still retaining its orange glow, but that was all he could count on for comfort. If his parents discovered he had been out of the house, all hell would rise. Usually, he would tell his parents if something like this happened – but he had noticed there was something unusual about his parent's behaviour – and being the observant son he was, he decided not to bother them. After all, they couldn't be bothered with something as trivial as his _truck_.

He finally made it back to the park. It sure looked different in the orange glow of the sun, he thought. It was slightly more…lonely, but exotic. Like it turned a new place at different times. He shook his head out of the environment, and quickly ran to the sandbox. He had a mission, after all. As he bent down to pick up his beloved truck, he heard something…something like a hiccup?

It seemed to have come from behind the main play area. The park had 3 parts. Immediately when you stepped into the park you were met with a main grass area. Then, following that area was a large sandbox. After the sandbox was a 'play area'. It had all the fun things that kids liked to play on – a noughts and crosses, an open and closed slide, monkey bas and a sliding pole. Behind that, however, was another patch of grass, and then finally a pair of swings. The swings had to be set back rather far so that kids would avoid swinging too far and hitting the other kids playing in the play area.

Young Ichigo heard the noise again. Ok, so it was definitely a hiccup. He felt kind of scared, as a 4-year-old would be – being alone in a park at sunset. But, his curiosity got the better of him, and he darted through the play area to see what was making this really weird _hiccuping _noise.

As he went through the play area he saw _her._

A girl about his age sat on the swings, her hair was raven-coloured, and the wind had flustered it slightly, and some rebellious strands had crossed over her face. However, Ichigo could still see her face quite clearly – and he could see the obvious tear trails that had made their way down her pretty face...

* * *

_BRINGGGG!_

The bell knocked him out of his remembrance. He cautiously looked at the girl next to him, only to find her looking at him – again. They both turned away, embarrassed. Ichigo quickly packed up his books and walked to the doorway, followed by the girl. She didn't mean for him to go in front of her, and make her seem like she was following, but she couldn't pack up as fast as him.

The teacher was waiting at the doorway. She looked up at the new student.

"Hmmph. I bet you did nothing but cause trouble while I was gone," she sneered, obviously still sore from the earlier (lost) verbal battle.

Most of the class stopped packing up, to watch the scene unfolding in front of them. Even Rukia stepped to the side a bit to see the new boy's reaction. She wondered if she would hear another verbal battle like at the start of class – that would have been interesting.

However, the boy didn't say anything at all, just looked evenly at the teacher. So, being the old hag she was, she continued the dratted conversation.

"Since you did nothing, I probably have to remind you that I asked you to finish the sheet I gave you – its homework," she said, an evil glint in her eye. "I'll expect it first thing tomorrow…" She trailed off, as the boy in front of her had calmly reached into his bag, and brought out the requested sheet. Not only that, but his answers were all neatly filled out; and at a glance, they seemed in depth, and…ugh…correct…even though she hated to admit it to herself.

The boy, after completing his deed _in front _of the whole class, just shrugged his bag back on his shoulder and walked off.

Rukia scowled at him, that arrogant bastard. Pretending to be so cool, with his finished work. Pfft…she'd show him. There was only one other person that was allowed to beat her in schoolwork, and that was the school captain; Toushirou Hitsugaya. She had already conceded academic defeat to the boy everyone called 'genius', but she wanted, no, treasured her position at second place.

"Ahem."

Rukia turned to the old teacher, who had held out her hand expectantly.

Oh crap. Out of all the people in the class (other than Hitsugaya), she should have handed her work in early. She quickly told the teacher that she hadn't quite finished yet, and she quickly made her way out of the room, glaring at the back of the new boy. How dare he show off?

"Rukia, you look like you're about to blow up," commented Hitsugaya as he joined her in the hallway, grinning. He had seen the whole thing.

"Shut-up."

* * *

The rest of the morning classes passed uneventfully, and Rukia had decided to throw herself into her studies, determined not to let this new guy fill her mind. Concentrating on the aspects of Physics and Chemistry kept her mind well out of the daydreaming mode – and the guy was in both her classes – honestly, she had been surprised that he actually did subjects like that…then lunchtime came. 

Rukia was silently thankful that lunch was just before the last period. That meant that school was nearly over. Plus, she had a whole hour doing nothing – well not doing work, anyway. But, she thought as she made her way over to the table where her and her friends usually sat, this would be an interesting lunchtime. She froze a few feet away from the table when she realised that _no one _else was there – other than him. He was sitting there calmly, like he had gone to their school forever – and pulling out his lunch from his bag. She stood still – not knowing what to do; Rangiku was in a different class for both Chemistry and Physics – so she wasn't there. Hitsugaya and Hinamori – even though she was sure she had seen them exiting the class at approximately the same time as her, they weren't here either. Even Ikkaku and Yumichika – even they would be good to be here.

_Please, just anyone…_

He looked up at her, and for the second time that day their gaze met, and held. After a few moments of staring, she decided that she had had enough. She wasn't going to stand a few feet away from her _own _table, while some stranger took it up like he owned it.

Ichigo watched, rather amused by the short raven haired girl, who had stood a few feet away from the table for a few seconds, then suddenly now was marching up to him. She was definitely weird. He raised an eyebrow as she marched up to him. He figured she was going to say something about his 'performance' this morning.

"Hi."

He nearly choked on his water bottle. What the…?

This time it was Rukia's turn to raise an eyebrow. Ichigo glared back at the girl, and didn't say anything. Damn her for being weird. She sat down at the table, just like it was her own. Wait, it probably was hers – he was the one intruding on her space.

"Sorry, is this where you usually sit?"

"Actually, it is," she said, in a sickeningly sweet voice that he immediately knew wasn't her own.

"I'll leave." Abrupt, gruff, and even though everything inside of him told him to stay, he stood up.

"Know what?"

Huh? The girl had actually bothered to say something again? He wasn't used to these types of girls. Most of the girls he knew were stupid, all air-heads, and stuck up to the max. He had immediately put her in this category, though there was something about her that he found…familiar.

"…"

When he didn't answer, Rukia sighed. What was with this guy? She didn't even know him, and he was already getting on her nerves. "You are rude."

Her comment made him stop. Did this girl just call him…rude?

"What? I'm the one leaving here," he snapped, suddenly annoyed at the girl who had dared voice her feelings.

"Yeah I know, but first, I say 'Hi', and you don't even say anything. Then I sit down, and what do you say? You say, 'Sorry'. What the hell is there to be sorry about?"

Ichigo eyed her warily. She was definitely different to the other girls he knew. Or had known. He had to admit that he did like her straightforward attitude. However…he didn't really get what she was saying.

"Uh…"

Rukia shook her head. "Look just sit down, and lets get acquainted _properly,_" she said.

Ichigo sat down, but smirked and said, "What if I don't want to get acquainted?"

She fixed him with a look that would melt steel. He responded by putting up his hands in mock chagrin. "Sorry! Jeez…"

She kept her glare levelled at him. "Anyway…" she inhaled sharply, "I'm Kuchiki Rukia."

Rukia…Rukia…there was something…_really _familiar about that name…something that was niggling at the back of his head…

She looked at him. He seemed to be far away, thinking about some other thing other than the fact that _she, _Kuchiki Rukia, had bothered to introduce herself. Without further ado, underneath the table, she kicked him in the shin.

It had the desired effect. He yelped. Then glared at her angrily. "The hell was that for?"

She just smiled sweetly at him. "Pay attention when someone's talking to you."

Ichigo shivered inwardly. This girl – seriously – she was weird. "Oh…yeah," he growled, still not forgiving her for the sharp pain in his shin. "Anyway, you already know my name."

"Oh…that's right," she said, this time normally. That was right – he had introduced himself that first class they had together. _Shit. I forgot his name._

He cocked an eyebrow at her, expectantly.

She sighed. "I…I forgot," she said, looking down. How embarrassing.

He barked a sharp laugh – immediately picking up on her mistake.

"Pfft. Pay attention when someone's talking to you, ay?"

"Shut-up. I only remember significant names," she retorted. How could this guy get _so _annoying _already_?

He laughed again. It was such a poor comeback, and he rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say." And burst out in quiet laughter – no more like snickering.

She fixed him with her death glare, and his laughing subsided – a bit.

"Ok, ok." His stupid annoying laugh finally stopped. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."

Kurosaki…ICHIGO? The name rung multiple bells in her head simultaneously; it sounded terrifyingly familiar. Then it hit her. He was…

"Oh my, I hope we aren't interrupting anything," a singsong voice said, floating from above her.

Rukia spun around to see the whole group standing behind her. Everyone. Ikkaku, Yumichika, Hitsugaya, Hinamori, and the speaker, Matsumoto.

"Oh…h-hey guys," Rukia said, in an attempt to make her voice 'normal'. To be honest, she was rather surprised when her friends had snuck up on her. But, she was thankful – now that she knew who the guy in front of her…_really was. _

The group made their way around the table, Matsumoto sat down next to her, and beside Matsumoto came Hinamori. The guys sat on the other side of the table with Ichigo, Hitsugaya on his right, and Yumichika and Ikkaku on the other side.

She remembered him, she thought, as the group made their general introductions. Every time he said his name, Kurosaki Ichigo, the faint memories that she had came back, more vivid than ever.

But, she thought as she hid a smile as Yumichika was telling Ichigo that he would really look sexy with the half grown stubble 'look', the question was – did he remember her? She wasn't going to make a fool of herself – she wouldn't just stop the whole conversation and ask him if he remembered her from when they were four years old. Four years old, for crying out loud. But, they had had some sort of relationship…didn't they? From the time when she was four to when she was eight…

She broke her train of thought as she looked at the many pairs of eyes looking at her expectantly.

"W-what?" she asked uncertainly.

Hitsugaya groaned. "Far out, listen will you," he said, the groan still evident in his voice.

"Oh…sorry. What was the question?"

"What's the deal with Renji?"

At the sound of another male's name, Ichigo's ears pricked up. Who was Renji?

"Huh? Oh…" she paused, thinking. "He went on an exchange program."

"Yeah, we know _that _much. But how come?"

Rukia suddenly felt uncomfortable, with everyone looking at her so intently. Especially Ichigo. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Matsumoto came to her rescue.

"Lay off it guys, he didn't leave _that _long ago."

She thanked her best friend silently. She didn't want to have an emotional breakdown on the first day of school.

"Oh yeah…Sorry, Rukia," the white hair genius said. "But he could've at least told us."

"Mmm," was her only answer.

Ichigo just sat there, wondering who the hell Renji was, and, from the looks of everyone at the table, no one was going to explain it either. He must have been a close friend of theirs, or something. He wisely chose not to say anything. Though, the closeness of the guy next to him – his name was Yumichika or something – was kind of uncomfortable.

* * *

**AN: **Ok, all done. Hope you had fun with this extra long chapter. Hehehe, I was planning to make it longer but…you know…kinda got tired. Maybe if you guys review…:P hahaha, well, I'm just trying to make it worth your wait – but as most of you already know…I'm still working on ASJ at the moment so yeah. Though I do like this one still XD….Anyway, you know the drill. Review! Many reviews equal fast update hahahaha! 


	6. The First Day, One Sided Memories

**AN: **Back again XD…Wow, I didn't know so much people were actually reading this…but thanks guys, and continue reviewing if you want me to continue.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach.

* * *

**Return to no Home – First day, One Sided Memory**

**

* * *

**

"See you tomorrow, Rukia. Walking as usual?"

"Yeah," she said, as she waved goodbye to her strawberry blonde friend. "Cya," she finished waving, and walked slowly down the front path of the school. Her thoughts wandered back to the events of last period.

Pfft. So much for her 'concentrating in class' image. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the last period, it just wouldn't happen. First off, she was still hurt over Renji. Why on earth had they decided to bring Renji up? After she thought about it – it did seem logical. After all, Renji had been their close friend. Of course they would be worrying – and since she was the closest to him…but still…it bloody hurt every time she thought about him.

And to make matters worse, she couldn't stop staring at Ichigo. That, and she was really pissed off at him. Why hadn't he remembered who she was? Throughout the last class, he had shown _no _indication whatsoever that she had seemed familiar to him. Even during lunch, he didn't display any hints that he _had _known her before.

Actually, Rukia was fuming. He had been her best friend, no, _only_ friend, for four whole years. Oh, sure, they had been 4 when they started their friend relationship, but still – it meant a lot to her. And he had forgotten it. That bastard. But she couldn't help but think back to the day when they had met.

* * *

She had been crying quite a while. The swing barely moved now, just creaked this way, then creaked that way. She was hardly aware of it; actually she was hardly aware of any other sounds, other than her quiet sniffling, and the occasional hiccup. That was when she saw the small shadow, blocking out her share of orange sunlight.

"Isn't it a bit late to be swinging?" the boy had said, standing in front of her, hands in pockets.

She had looked up to study him, and saw that he was a boy about her age. He looked like every other boy his age, baggy pants, white shirt. But when she reached his face, she saw his hair. It was orange. That was what shocked her the most. But, she didn't say anything, and continued crying. A bit louder than before.

She had expected him to go away, to go back to his parents – she was sure they were waiting behind the play area. When the shadow didn't go away, she looked up again, this time a bit angry.

"Sorry. I was trying to be funny." With that, the boy stepped closer to her and hugged her, not knowing why, only knowing that she needed a hug. She felt shocked that he had hugged her, but it felt comforting; something she had been deprived of. She didn't hug him back, just sat lamely there on the swing, while he stood there, hugging her.

After a while he pulled back, and looked her in the face, fixing her with a big grin.

"My mummy says that when you cry, all you need to do is dry your tears and smile!"

And with that, he wiped her tears away with his shirt, and then took a step back.

"Now, you gotta smile!"

And she did. "Thanks," she had said softly. And the boy just grinned wider.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, still beaming – obviously proud of his family. "What's your name?"

"I-I'm…Kuchiki…Rukia…" she had replied, uncertainly, the smile slipping a bit.

"Let's be friends, ok?"

"Ok."

* * *

And that was the day when they had become friends, she thought, almost bitterly. That was her first friend. _And he was such a mummy's boy, _she thought ruefully, trying to fight off a small smile that had crossed her face.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice him until she walked straight into his back.

"Uh…" she moaned, rubbing her head. "What the hell are you standing still in the middle of the footpath for?"

"Excuse me?"

Rukia looked up, into the face of the _new _guy. Except of course, he wasn't new. He was anything _but _new. His hair hadn't changed one bit, along with his face. Oh sure, he had acquired the usual growing traits that males have, but she wondered why his strikingly familiar face didn't ring a bell when she first saw him. _Probably because I gave up hope after he left…_

"O-oh…Ichi-Kurosaki-san," she stumbled over her words, mentally reprimanding herself for almost using his first name. "Sorry, but what the hell were you standing in the middle of the footpath for?"

She saw him about to open his mouth, obviously mad, but then for some reason he calmed down, and started to laugh.

'Laugh?' she thought, unbelieving. "Oi! What the hell are you laughing about?"

He straightened up, eyeing her carefully. This girl could change her moods any minute now. "Uh, the thing is, Kuchiki-san, I wasn't standing still. I was walking."

The words took a couple of minutes to sink their meaning into her head. "Oh," she said, embarrassed and slightly shocked.

"Well, I was walking, until someone decided to bump rather angrily into my back," Ichigo said with a small grin. Honestly, what was with this girl?

Rukia looked uncertainly into his grin, but before she could close her mind to any rude comebacks, her mouth already said it. "Shut-up, idiot." _And _it was laced with a bit more bite in her voice than she usually would have. The day's events; realising that Renji wasn't there, realising that this…idiot in front of her was actually her first friend…it really was too much. Way too much.

His grin turned to a scowl. Sure, he had thought she was a bit more feisty than the other girls, but he really didn't expect this. The comment had dug deep for some reason. "Fine." And he turned and walked off, leaving Rukia behind. Rukia just looked helplessly at his retreating back, but even though she _wanted _to go after him, she just couldn't. Her feet were rooted to the spot. Even though she wanted to yell after him that she didn't really mean what she said and she was just having a bad day – her mouth was sealed shut. She thought that it really was _convenient _that her mouth had decided to seal up now, but not before. She sighed. Thinking about matters like this just made things worse. Home and bed looked to be the best option at the moment.

Ichigo practically had stomped into the house, and once again, was not met by his father's powerful kick. His dad looked up from the couch, looking like he was _starting _to get over his wife's death, but still…

Isshin was about to say something, but one look on his son's face told him to keep quiet. Very quiet. Ichigo stomped all the way upstairs to his room, dumped his bag on the floor, and lay on the bed, not bothering to open the blinds that he had closed that morning.

What the hell was with that girl, Kuchiki Rukia? Oh sure, he admitted that he hadn't been the most friendly person there exactly was, but come on, what the hell did people expect? Him to be some bubbly, bouncy person? Of course not – his mother had just died a few weeks ago. How could he even _act _happy? Though, when he thought about it, he felt easily content in the group that he had eaten his lunch with. Except for her. Damn her for being so annoying, he thought, lying face down on the bed, school uniform still sticking to his body.

She was annoying, but how come he couldn't stop thinking about her? There was something about her, he decided, even if she was a tad on the irritating side. Something about her, something about her hair, about the colour of her dark blue eyes…he opened his eyes suddenly, trying desperately to recall what it was about her that he had been so interested in.

No. It could not be that. Never. Never in a million years. There was no chance in hell that he actually _liked _her. He flipped around on the bed, now lying on his back. Now that he had made peace with his mind, he thought that he could actually get some sleep time before dinner. But his mind wouldn't leave him alone.

"Shut-up," he said quietly, even though there was no one else in the room.

_But you like her. You're attracted to her._

"No."

_Whatever._

"Ok, I'll say yes. Will you leave me alone?"

_Yes._

Thankful for stopping the annoying conversation with himself, and rather thankful that he hadn't turned mad (just yet) he rolled over a little till he was facing his wall. Even though he had stopped the annoying voice in his head with a simple mind trick (he was fooling himself), there was _something _else. Something clicked. He _didn't _like her, but there was really something about the girl that he had failed to notice. What was it? Maybe he would find out tomorrow.

* * *

She sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed, visibly trying to make sense of the situation. Ok, she thought, flopping down on her bed, now out of her school uniform. She had finished all her homework as fast as she could, blocking out all the thoughts that had been plaguing her mind as of recently.

First, she thought, there is the whole Renji issue. Ok, he's gone, and he loves me. Great, she thought, as tears sprung to her eyes. Even when she wasn't talking to anyone about it, Renji was still a tender topic. And then, before she could wallow in any pit of self-despair, this guy had come up to their school – and she had found out that he and her had been friends long before they met today. Normally, meeting up with an old friend would have been a good experience right? Right, but she told herself – meeting up with _this _old friend certainly wasn't normal.

No matter how she tried to avoid it, it kept coming back to her. How he left her. How he left her. How he left her. The sentence kept playing over and over in her mind like an old film, or a CD that had been skipping over the same part due to scratches. That's what she was, she decided. A CD that had been scratched one too many times. Too many mistakes. Too many wounds.

* * *

"Hey…Ichigo-chan?"

"Yeah?" The orange haired boy turned to her, eyes smiling. Rukia found herself smiling whenever she looked at her friend, her _only _friend. She wondered why he smiled so much.

"Why do you smile all the time?"

The kid thought for a moment, pausing dramatically. "We-ell…it's 'cause mummy told me that it makes her happy when I smile. So, I smile!"

That made Rukia smile. She turned back towards the sandbox. They were sitting on the edge, absentmindedly picking up the sand in lumps, then letting it drop through their fingers. They were, after all, a whopping eight-years-old, and that ripe old age provided them with a dignity that surpassed actually _sitting _inside of the sandbox.

However, that same age also required that certain feelings that the both of them couldn't understand. Sure, they could talk to each other, but there was _something _in the air above them, something that closely resembled a fondness of some kind.

Rukia, being the girl, had developed some sort of feeling towards her friend, her _only _friend. Of course, she didn't know it, but there was something in her subconscious, something…

Anyway, since Valentines day was today, Rukia had spent most of the day inside, working on her present for her friend. He didn't know that, of course, he just assumed she was hanging out with her brother, as she sometimes did. But, he was happy when she accepted his offer to go play in the park sometime in the afternoon. Now, they had nothing to do, having long passed the same old topics some hours ago.

"Uh…Ichigo-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Today…its, ah, anyway," she said hurriedly, not trusting herself to look at the boy next to her, "I have something for you." This she blurted out then turned cautiously to look at the orange haired boy next to her. Seeing that he had his head down, obviously not looking at her, she quickly produced the small box of chocolates she had been hiding, and stood up.

"I-Ichigo-chan…" she trailed off, suddenly nervous.

When he turned to look at her, she scrunched her eyes shut, and handed over the chocolates, now furiously blushing. She didn't know why she was embarrassed; but all she knew was that she didn't want to look him in the eye. She felt the box being taken gently from her clenched fingers.

"Kia-chan," she heard him say, and immediately she looked up. He reserved this special nickname for her whenever he was _really _pleased with her, or something. She tried hard to hide her blush, but it was almost impossible.

"…" She also tried to open her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Thanks a lot, Kia-chan," he said, smiling his smile.

They stayed there in that position, just standing there, until Ichigo broke the silence.

"Um…"

Rukia looked up, thankful that it wasn't her that had to speak first.

"Because you gave me this gift; I'll um…" he paused, thinking for the correct words. "I'll be your friend always, no matter what happens."

Rukia looked shyly to him. "Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

_And then you went and broke it, you jerk. _

Rukia lay in bed, reminiscing about her past. Right after he had made that promise, right after, as in the morning after, she had gone past his house to go to school, eager to talk to her best friend. She remembered how she waited in front of his house, waiting for him to open the door, smiling as he always did. But he never came. She waited, and waited. Then, she knocked on the door. No one answered. That was the first day in her whole life she had been late to school.

Why? Why now? She had put all those memories behind her, sealed them up. She had thought she had made herself forget them all, but obviously that wasn't true. The year without him had been pure horror. But, eventually she toughened up, and she tried to forget every single thing they had done together. Entering high-school definitely helped. Meeting with a new guy, she quickly forgot her feelings for Ichigo, and tried to give this other guy a chance. They had hit off spectacularly, she thought. Her and Renji. The first official couple in the first year of high-school. After a few years with Renji, she thought everything had been set out – her life, her marriage, her career. All this helped her to forget the orange haired boy that had broken her heart in the past. Eventually even visiting the park where they had first met didn't even mean a thing. That was how securely she had tied on her emotional barriers. The swing – didn't hold any special memories. The sandbox – definitely not. But…

Then he decides to come back, she thought bitterly. Making me an emotional wreck, she thought, before drifting off into an uneasy sleep, filled with disturbing dreams.

* * *

**AN: **Ok, I better leave it there. Well, I was gonna carry on, but then the chapter name would be rendered useless. It wouldn't be the first day anymore. Which would kind of suck right? Yep! Well, anyway, do me a big favour, and review me! Well, if I don't see a rather LARGE addition to the reviews I won't update… MUAHAHHAHAHA! And, by the way, large means… hmmm another 50 reviews? Lolz…ok seriously, review if you enjoyed reading. If you didn't enjoy reading then give me your name and address and I will hunt you down…er…ok…See you next chapter… 


	7. War and Peace

**AN: **Ok, first off, thankyou to the wonderful reviews you guys left. Thanks so much. I know its annoying as hell to drop in a review, but you did it! Thanks! And I recognised some people as good writers in the Bleach fandom. Wow. I feel special :P Well, here we go.

To people who are reading this just as chapter 7, I strongly recommend you read chapter 6 before reading this. It will help you understand the events (and flashbacks) a whole lot better.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

* * *

**Return to no Home: War and Peace**

**

* * *

**

"ICHIGO! RISE AND SHINE!"

WHOOMPH!

Isshin brought the full force of his body down onto the bed that Ichigo was lying in. Note the 'was'. Ichigo was now standing on the floor yelling obscene things at his father.

Isshin, however, just grinned, and walked away. Ichigo muttered something under his breath about disowning his father as he headed off to the bathroom. Well, at least his father was back to normal, Ichigo thought. Even though, that might not be a good thing.

His second day of school. Ichigo wondered absentmindedly what it would be like. He retraced yesterday's events. He had gone to school, gotten into a fight, met that _extremely _annoying girl, talked to that same girl after supposedly stealing her spot, talked to her group of friends, fought with the girl…he stopped his train of thought there. There was too much of _that _girl, he decided. It would probably be better if he steered clear from the raven haired school girl from now on. She…was kinda on the emotional side.

He dressed quickly, then hurried down the stairs, just in time for breakfast.

"Ah, Ichigo, welcome to our family table!"

His two sisters, Karin and Yuzu were already sitting at the table, eating. Karin didn't even look up from her food, and Yuzu just smiled up at him apologetically. Ichigo sat down opposite to his father.

They ate in silence for a while.

"Ichi-nii, how come you went to sleep so early last night?"

"I was tired," he replied, not stopping his eating.

"Ah, yes, the joy's of a 17-year-old teenager. Doing such strenuous things such as –"

"Dad. Shut it," Karin warned. "We don't even want to know."

Yuzu looked around innocently. "What don't we want to know?"

Isshin immediately stood up, and clasped his hands to his chest. "Oh my daughter, there is a time in everyone's life –"

"Old man! Shut-up!" said Karin and Ichigo simultaneously.

As Ichigo ate faster than both his sisters and his father, he finished first. He moved to put his plate in the sink.

"Wow, Ichi-nii, you eat fast as usual," exclaimed Yuzu.

"Maybe he needs to get to school early or something," shrugged Karin, not knowing that it was the wrong thing to say.

"AH! Maybe…A GIRLFRIEND?"

A voice floated down the hallway. "Old man, shut the hell up. There is no girlfriend. Goodbye." With that, the front door slammed shut, followed closely by an echo.

Ichigo's sisters and Isshin looked up. Since when did their door have an _echo_?

* * *

Ichigo's jaw dropped as the front door of his neighbour closely followed his own. 

_Kuchiki Rukia?_ What the hell was she doing in…in the house next to him. She walked quickly down her front steps, before she realised he was staring at her. She turned and looked. Pretty soon, her facial expression matched Ichigo's.

"What the hell…are you doing there?" they said at the same time.

"What? I was here first!"

Ichigo just looked away. Crap. So much for trying to avoid Rukia. She lived right next to him. This did not look good. He turned back to the girl that he had met at his school. She was looking at him intently, like she knew him from somewhere else.

"What the hell are you looking at," he growled. He still hadn't forgiven the girl for her rude conversation to him the day before.

"A jerk," she said, smiling sweetly.

Ichigo blanched. What the hell? He didn't do anything. Damn girls, always presuming that guys can read their mind. And he really didn't do anything wrong.

"What the hell did I do to you? Shouldn't you be apologizing?"

Her gaze narrowed. "I don't apologize to jerks."

With that, she hopped daintily into the black Mercedes that was parked on their driveway.

_It's war, _Ichigo thought darkly, as he watched the car drive away.

* * *

His entrance, compared to last time's, was relatively quiet. No one bothered him, though he could swear he felt the gaze of the gang he fought yesterday, boring into his back. 

Oh well, he thought. Not like it was anything new. Not like it mattered, he thought. What mattered was, was that Kuchiki Rukia was a bitch.

Throughout the rest of the week, he constantly made life hard for the raven-haired girl and vice-versa. They waged their silent war wherever they could; in the hallways, in the classroom, even outside the school. They competed against each other in terms of academic excellence – one day Rukia was humiliated because Ichigo had stolen her sheet off her desk, rendering her working useless. What made it worse was that _everyone _else had finished their homework and had handed it in. Afterwards, the teacher gave her a long and boring lecture about responsibility.

Rukia got back at the orange haired boy during a co-ed PE class. They were running the 800m, and Ichigo and Rukia were in front. Ichigo was ahead easily, his long legs pulling him in front of everyone else. But suddenly, nearing the end, he slowed down a bit, and Rukia sped up with inhuman speed, and beat him. In front of the whole class. Ichigo had never been so embarrassed. The guys (even though they had lost as well) laughed at him because he had been beaten so easily by a girl. To top it off, the PE teacher told him, in front of the whole class, to stop showing off, and to concentrate on running.

The rest of the class noticed the silent war going on between the two, and they gave them space, even though they watched with interest. Interest – because even though the two were fighting, it seemed like they had known each other for ages. When Matsumoto mentioned this to her friend, for some reason it fuelled her anger for the orange haired kid even more.

At lunchtime they sat at the same bench, but at opposite sides. The group also recognised the silent war going on between the two, and they wisely didn't say anything about either's behaviour. They had a bad feeling that they wouldn't be very healthy afterwards.

* * *

It was Friday, and most students came into the school looking very happy. Most of them. Two students in particular came to school glaring at anyone who even dared glance their way. At the locker room, Matsumoto cornered her new friend. 

"Ichigo."

Ichigo looked up questioningly at Rukia's best friend.

"Its about Rukia."

"…"

"Apologise to her."

"Hell no. And for what exactly, anyway?"

"Look," she hissed, as she pulled him into a more secretive place in the locker room. "Rukia's long term boyfriend, Renji, left to the states on Sunday."

The orange haired boy looked at Matsumoto. "So?"

The strawberry blonde sighed emphatically. "If you had a girlfriend since year 7, and suddenly she told you she was going to America to study, wouldn't you be feeling slightly irritated at anyone and anything?"

"Hn," Ichigo said as he pushed away from Rukia's best friend.

_That cold, unfeeling jerk, _Matsumoto thought as she watched him walk off. She had asked Rukia about the fight the two were having but Rukia refused to comment. Much. All she said was that the orange haired guy was a jerk, and mumbled something about still being upset over Renji. As she walked to her next class, Matsumoto wondered what could have transpired between the two to make them such bitter enemies _already_. It was only the first week of school for crying out loud. It really was like they knew each other from a long time back. She grinned wistfully as she opened the door of her classroom. She remembered how Rukia had reacted on Wednesday, when she told her that. First she stiffened, then looked away, then started blushing, then finally, settled back into her angry mode again. Matsumoto couldn't help but wonder if she had hit the nail on the head. If she hadn't known Rukia so well, she would have thought that they actually did know each other from way back. They way they fought…it was like they were already familiar with each other.

She sighed as she started tuning in to her modern history lesson.

* * *

Ichigo sat in class. Just sat there. Doing nothing. Basically, he was brooding. Brooding over what Matsumoto had told him. So that was it, he thought to himself. The answer to all his questions about the infamously annoying Kuchiki Rukia. It all boiled down to Renji. That guy had left her just before school had started, and she was feeling the effects. No wonder he had thought she was such an annoying little bitch. He wondered absentmindedly if she was nicer when she wasn't all emotional about things that affected her life. 

Well, Ichigo, being Ichigo, decided to stop the war. He knew she wouldn't. Even though, it was her that started the argument – hell, he was trying to be nice – and she just shoots in an insult. And yet, he _has _to apologise for everything that's happened. Life was unfair, but Ichigo had already experienced unfairness by many a hand throughout his life. He would just have to deal with this like he did with everything else, because, in truth, he didn't really _desire _enemies. And it showed. Ichigo, even though he had a tendency to grunt and not say much, was still gaining popularity fast, within the school. That was partly due to him hanging out in the most popular group and in the school, his fight with Grimmjow, and partly because of his looks. He had already received a few letters proclaiming their undying love for him stuck in his locker. He threw them all away. If that wasn't enough to boost his popularity, the results of the analytical test that was given to all students on the second day of school were released. It was one of those tests that you didn't study for – a test to help the teachers see where each student was sitting at, academically. He had tied second, behind the 'genius', Hitsugaya. Rukia had got second as well, but boy, was she steaming when she found out that Ichigo had tied with her.

Before long, the school day ended, and the halls were littered with people talking animatedly about what they were going to do that weekend. He made his way to the locker area, and spotted Matsumoto.

"Oi, Matsumoto."

"Oh, hey Ichigo," Matsumoto said. _You jerk, _she added silently.

"Um…" he paused before continuing. "Where is Rukia?"

Matsumoto felt herself grin before she could mentally scold herself. "Oh, she finishes early today. She went up ahead." _Ok, maybe he isn't such a jerk._

"Hm…" he said, thinking.

"Oh, you planning to apologise?" she said, with a sly smile on her face.

"Pfft. As if," he said hurriedly, before rushing out of the locker area.

Matsumoto ignored his comment, because she knew that that was exactly what he was going to do.

* * *

Ichigo looked left and right at the school gates, but he couldn't see her anywhere. Of course she's gone home already, he thought. Oh well, it just meant that he would have to endure a whole weekend knowing that a certain student hated his guts. He could deal with that. 

Well, since it was Friday, his father had asked him to do some shopping in the local supermarket. Ichigo entered the supermarket, and without further ado, grabbed the items his father wanted, and then walked out again – the man's way to shop, as his father put it. He was surprised at how late it had gotten. The sun was going down, and all that was left was an orange sky, and an orange sun. He smiled slightly, in spite of himself. He loved this time of the day – not that it had anything to do with the colour of his hair, mind you, but he just loved that time of the day…

As he walked down the path, he wondered if she walked the same way as he did. After all, they were neighbours. Nah, he thought. She's so rich and proper that she probably gets a ride to and from school. He continued walking in the silence, stopping at the entrance of the park. It had been so long since he had been here, he thought. Since his dad wouldn't really be worried if he stayed out after dark, he walked unhesitatingly into the park. It was empty – he checked his watch – about 6:00PM. Yes, definitely all the kids would have gone home by now.

He looked at the sandpit in front of him. It didn't change, he thought ruefully. His gaze travelled upward to the play area. Yes, it really had been a long time since he had been here. Though, the play area that he had played around when he was a kid was still the same old play area. It was kind of weird, he thought, how parks looked eerily comfortable in the glow of the setting sun. For a minute he just stood there, remembering all he could about this place that he used to call home. Used to. And then that fateful night came and they had to go, go without telling anyone. Especially _her. _The thought of _her _had sobered him down a bit, even though you couldn't really tell just by looking at his face – his expression didn't change. Still the same frowning face he showed to everyone.

Absentmindedly he wondered if the swings were still behind the play area. He walked through the sandbox, feeling the sand move underneath his weight. That was when he heard a definite hiccup.

Fighting the strange feeling of familiarity, he quelled his stomach, which seemed to rise up to his chest. He stepped slowly through the play area, and heard the hiccup again. His head was throbbing.

Sitting on the swing, was Kuchiki Rukia. Crying.

_The girl was crying. She wasn't bawling, like one would expect a 4-year-old child to, but she was crying. Like an adult. No loud shrieking sounds, no yelling, but just simple tears, making their way down her small face. There was the occasional hiccup, but other than that, the girl kept silent; silently crying._

Ichigo gulped, and stood in front of her.

_A girl about his age sat on the swings, her hair was raven-coloured, and the wind had flustered it slightly, and some rebellious strands had crossed over her face. However, Ichigo could still see her face quite clearly – and he could see the obvious tear trails that had made their way down her pretty face..._

Ichigo didn't know what to do. He just stood there, his head replaying the event that had happened 14 years ago. What was he supposed to do again?

_She had been crying quite a while. The swing barely moved now, just creaked this way, then creaked that way. She was hardly aware of it; actually she was hardly aware of any other sounds, other than her quiet sniffling, and the occasional hiccup. That was when she saw the small shadow, blocking out her share of orange sunlight._

Rukia looked up slightly. Someone was blocking _her _sunlight. Her orange sunlight. Could it be…Ichigo? She nearly said his name out straight when she saw him standing in front of her, the exact same spot where he had stood, 14 years ago.

_"Isn't it a bit late to be swinging?" the boy had said, standing in front of her, hands in pockets._

She didn't stop crying, in fact, if possible, _more _tears streamed down her face. Right here, was the reason why she was crying. Right in front of her. Standing in front of her, no clue whatsoever about who he really was. That cut her deep. And he wasn't even saying anything, that cruel jerk. He was probably here to laugh at her, laugh at her predicament.

"Isn't it a bit late to be swinging?"

_She had looked up to study him, and saw that he was a boy about her age. He looked like every other boy his age, baggy pants, white shirt. But when she reached his face, she saw his hair. It was orange. That was what shocked her the most. But, she didn't say anything, and continued crying. A bit louder than before._

She looked up at the boy she had met 14 years ago, and was re-meeting. She looked up with an unreadable expression. Did he _really _remember? Or was what he said just a coincidence? She took a good look at him. He was standing there, standing tall. Unlike that day, where he was still short, wearing his baggy pants, white shirt. He hadn't really changed, she thought ruefully. Even now, in his school uniform, he was wearing baggy pants, and his white school shirt. It looked painfully familiar. She couldn't stand looking at him, so she looked back down, and continued to cry.

_She had expected him to go away, to go back to his parents – she was sure they were waiting behind the play area. When the shadow didn't go away, she looked up again, this time a bit angry._

His tall shadow didn't go away. It stood there – it was almost as if he was mocking her memories. She looked up, angrily.

"_Sorry. I was trying to be funny." With that, the boy stepped closer to her and hugged her, not knowing why, only knowing that she needed a hug. She felt shocked that he had hugged her, but it felt comforting; something she had been deprived of. She didn't hug him back, just sat lamely there on the swing, while he stood there, hugging her._

"Sorry. I was trying to be funny."

That did it. Rukia looked at Ichigo with an astonished expression on her face. So he did really…she was jerked away from her thoughts as he stepped closer to her, and hugged her. She didn't resist, but she didn't hug him back; she was so astonished that he actually…remembered. She had thought…

'Just like that day', Ichigo thought, as he wrapped his arms around the girl. 'Rukia never did hug me back.'

_After a while he pulled back, and looked her in the face, fixing her with a big grin._

"I'd like to see what you're going to do next."

"What, smile?" he answered evenly, still not letting go.

She nodded into his shoulder. After a while he pulled back, and looked her in the face, but he didn't smile. But, he didn't scowl either. He just looked at her, as if studying her intently. Rukia found herself smiling instead.

"_My mummy says that when you cry, all you need to do is dry your tears and smile!"_

"Ichigo –" she started, but Ichigo placed a finger on her lips.

"My…mum…says…no…" his voice broke with emotion. "My mum…_would _say that when you cry…all you need to do is…" he stopped unable to go on. The wound was still fresh in his heart. His mum was gone, and he couldn't just…do what she suggested.

Rukia watched young man in front of her. Did he just say, his mum _would _say…that means…she passed away…

"Ichigo…"

This time it was him that was crying. But, he cried silently, like her. He didn't move, but tears just rolled down his face.

_And with that, he wiped her tears away with his shirt, and then took a step back._

"All you need to do is dry your tears," she said, and wiped his tears away, "and smile."

"_Now, you gotta smile!"_

Ichigo looked at the girl in front of him. And for the first time in years, he attempted to smile. It was only a small one, but at least it was a smile. And it was probably the only smile she would _ever _get out of him.

He gently took her hands from his face, and wiped away _her _tears with his shirt. He took her hands again, and they rested on her lap, fingers intertwined.

"Now, you have to smile."

"Gotta," she corrected him, smiling slightly.

"My vocabulary got a bit better," he replied.

_"Thanks," she had said softly. And the boy just grinned wider._

They stayed there, the girl on the swing, and they boy kneeling down in front of her, for a couple of minutes.

"Thanks," Ichigo murmured.

"Its ok," Rukia replied.

"No."

"Huh?" She looked at him questioningly.

"You're supposed to say thanks, not me."

She just smiled. "Idiot," she said softly.

He looked at her again, not really caring that his hands were still holding her smaller ones. They locked gazes, neither pulling away – not saying anything, but just holding each other's gaze, spending the precious time to fully remember who the other was. The only thing that stopped them looking at each other was the approaching darkness. Ichigo realised it first, because he couldn't see her deep blue eyes.

"_I'm Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, still beaming – obviously proud of his family. "What's your name?"_

"_I-I'm…Kuchiki…Rukia…" she had replied, uncertainly, the smile slipping a bit._

"_Let's be friends, ok?"_

"_Ok."_

Wordlessly, he stood up, tugging gently at the girl's hand. She stood up with him, and, picking up his groceries on the way, they walked home, hand in hand.

The trip home was uneventful, both friends lost in their own thoughts. As they neared their houses, both of them stopped, their minds thinking the same thing.

They stood there, underneath the white glow of the streetlight, not saying anything. Finally Ichigo broke the silence.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo," he said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kuchiki Rukia," she said, smiling a small, content smile.

She felt his grip tighten slightly on her hands, and she looked up at him, puzzled. Quickly, he leant down and kissed her lightly on the forehead, not releasing her hands.

She looked up at him, the guy that had changed from an enemy to a friend. "Somehow, I don't remember the kiss on the forehead," she said softly, another smile playing on her features, this time accentuated with a light blush.

"Let's be friends, ok?" he said, trying to ignore the same rising heat to his cheeks.

"Ok."

* * *

**AN: **NOO! The chapter is over already! T.T This was such a happy moment. I loved writing this chapter, I really did. Please review, if it touched you. If it didn't touch you, review anyway, you cold, cold human. Anyway, yeah, stay tuned for what happens next. That is, if people can be bothered to review. If not much people review, then I'll have to call this fic off. Sorry. HAHAHAH! Joking, joking, I love you guys. When you review that is. Anyway, yeah, cya next chapter. 


	8. Courting Memories Part I

**AN: **ALL RIGHT YOU LUCKY DOGS! I AM UPDATING! Anyway…lets skip to the sane part. Hey there! I'm really happy that so much people reviewed. Great! Means I can keep going…Hmm, now, I sorta know where the story is going, but…yeah it's a bit on the grey side – Heck, I could've finished it with the last chapter. But then you guys would have murdered me. And I like life, so I think I'll continue on. Enjoy.

By the way, I haven't read through it. Was too tired. Please ignore any mistakes found.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

* * *

**Return to no Home: Courting Memories (Part I)**

* * *

Ichigo lay sprawled on his bed, his orange hair messed up, and half his blankets on the floor. He had woken up about five minutes ago, but not _fully_. Not fully, meaning his eyes were still closed, and he was in a pleasant half-dreaming, half reality state.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open, and one word came to mind. Rukia.

He made no move, but it was obvious that word had a particular effect on him. Rukia. Ichigo slapped his forehead. He couldn't believe that he had actually forgotten the girl. She had been his friend, his only friend. Actually, that was probably why he forgot about her, he mused, still not moving from his sprawled out position on the bed. It was comfortable, and the temperature was just right. That, and it was Saturday. No school. He could just lie there.

He closed his eyes as he turned his thoughts back to Rukia, that raven haired, four-year-old girl he had met so long ago. It was by pure luck that he had gone to the park yesterday afternoon. All he knew was that an important memory laid within the park, but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember what it was. When he saw Rukia sitting on the swing, crying, a myriad of memories came rushing back. He couldn't explain it, so he just did what the memories told him to do. It _felt _right, he decided.

He turned slightly on his bed. Why didn't he recognise her when she had told him her name? He pondered upon this question for the next few minutes. Again, his eyes snapped open as he remembered something more about the girl. He hadn't known her as Kuchiki. In his memories, she had been…

He grunted in frustration and rolled off the bed. It was irritating, like he knew the information was inside his head, its just that he couldn't get there. Lying on the floor, he started to do push-ups, when he noticed something was different. He scratched his head. That's right, his father hadn't come in yelling and screaming as he always did. Ichigo stopped his morning routine, and walked to the bathroom.

He looked around, puzzled as to why the house seemed void of any people. Jumping down the first flight of stairs, he noticed that there wasn't any sweet breakfast smells coming from the kitchen.

"Yuzu?" he said, hesitantly.

No answer.

"Karin?"

Silence. He took a deep breath.

"Dad?"

When there was silence, he _knew _no one was home. Where had everyone gone? He jumped down the next flight of stairs, and looked on the dining table. There was a small note pinned to it saying,

_Dear Ichi-nii,_

_We have gone away for the weekend to visit grandpa. We know how you don't particularly like him, so we didn't ask you to come along. We actually left last night (I know you'll be reading this on Saturday morning) but you didn't seem to hear us when we tried to tell you – and you went straight to bed. Anyway, we'll be back on Sunday night, in time for school. Meanwhile, I hope you can survive there without our help. I know you can. _

_Love, Yuzu and Karin_

Ichigo re-read the letter. His dad had scribbled down the bottom, in his messy hand writing, 'WHAT ABOUT ME! YOUR DAD! I LOVE YOU TOO!' Ichigo shook his head. Anyway, did it just say that they had gone, and left him? He, who could only cook pancakes? Damn. This was going to be a long weekend.

However, he thought as he heated up the oil in the frypan, donning the only apron available – the stupid hot pink one. Even after moving in after a week, they still hadn't got the other aprons out because Yuzu was the only one that cooked. And she didn't mind the hot pink apron. He sighed as he quickly mixed the pancake mix in the bowl. He didn't really care. As long as he had something to eat.

He placed a generous helping of pancake mix on the frypan, and watched the bubbles slowly form on the white mix. He remembered, when he was about eleven years old, when his mother had first shown him how to make pancakes. Ichigo smiled sadly. It was the only thing his mother ever taught him in terms of cooking, because she always said that she'd be there until she was old, and that she would always cook for him.

_Liar, _he thought angrily, a lone tear making its way down the side of his face. He angrily brushed it away. He would not cry. Not anymore. He turned his thoughts to his childhood friend, which always seemed to make him happier. He looked down at the pancake in the frypan. Looks like it needed to be turned over. He was about to do so, when he heard the doorbell ring. Without thinking, he left his pancake sizzling in the pan, and went to answer the doorbell.

He answered it the way he usually answered phone calls. That is, an abrupt, "What?" He had jerked the door open, and standing outside, in some loose tracksuit pants and a cardigan, was Kuchiki Rukia. She was a bit shocked when he had opened the door so roughly, but she soon got over it, and started doubling over in laughter.

Ichigo eyed her warily. She hadn't even said a word, but she was already laughing her head off – and it seemed like it was at him.

"Rukia?"

It took a few minutes for her to get over her laughter. "Ichigo…" she started, but went off into peals of giggles.

He was starting to get irritated. "Do you usually knock on people's doors, and then laugh at them?" he asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

She stopped, and started to say his name again. "Ichigo, you're wearing a freakin' pink apron!"

Saying it out loud just sent her into another fit of laughter. Ichigo slowly looked down at what he was wearing. He was wearing his normal pyjamas, but the stupid pink apron made it look like he was wearing a dress.

_Shit._

He rolled his eyes, and pretended that it didn't matter to him. But it did. But he was thankful that it wasn't anyone else.

"Shut-up."

She tried to shut her mouth, but couldn't stay quiet. If she continued on like this, he thought, she would attract attention. Thinking quickly, he pulled her inside the house and shut the door behind them.

"Ok, laugh all you want," he said, still trying desperately not to care, but the rising heat to his face was betraying his words.

Suddenly, she stopped laughing, and sniffed the air. "Uh, Ichigo, is something burning?"

He stopped his uncaring façade, and stared at her.

"Shit!"

Jumping backwards, he back-pedalled into the kitchen, where his pancake had turned into a piece of charcoal. That wasn't the real problem, however. The real problem was that the oil around it had heated up so much that fire was rising from the pan. It looked fierce.

Rukia joined him, and they both looked on, dumbfounded as the flames crept higher and higher. Rukia snapped out of her trance first, and grabbed the nearest water filled container she could find. The glass of water she through on helped a tiny bit, but the flames were hissing like mad. She repeatedly kept filling up the glass that she had and tossing it on to the flames. Finally, the flames died down, and she sighed. Ichigo had seemed to come out of his trance, and approached the oven to turn off the heat. As he turned off the heat, something black shot out and hit him in the eye.

* * *

"Stay still, dammit!"

"But –"

"Shut-up! Do you want it out or not?"

That kept him quiet. But not for long.

"Wasn't my fault anyway," he grumbled.

"…"

"OUCH!" He tried to glare up at her with his one good eye, but it wasn't working.

Rukia smirked. "Oops, sorry, I almost poked your eyeball out."

He didn't say anything after that, but he still kept moving around. Rukia just gave up telling him to stay still. The truth was, he couldn't stay still because he was nervous. Ok, he was on Rukia's lap for crying out loud! After he had been struck with a piece of black pancake, Rukia had lead him to their lounge, and had made him lie down on the sofa. She then proceeded to sit down with him, placing her legs underneath his head, so that he was resting on her lap. This was so she could get out the foreign object in his eye. Though, Ichigo didn't know whether it was such a good idea after all, considering she had nearly poked his eyeballs out. But, it might be worth it, lying on her lap, he thought, trying to fight the heat that was rising up to his face again.

Well, he couldn't help it, all he could think about was her legs under his head, her hands touching his face…he mentally slapped himself to stop himself from thinking anymore.

"There, I got it out," a voice said.

He blinked, and suddenly he could see a bit clearer. And he could see how close her face was to his; strands of her raven hair falling down and tickling the sides of his face. He almost leapt up in surprise, but he controlled himself.

"Can you see me clearly?" she asked.

"Uh…yeah," he said, averting his eyes, until he had seen her straighten up again. An awkward moment of silence passed between the two. Ichigo decided to say something, as he had pretty much ended the start of the conversation with his one word response.

"So, um, why'd you come over?" he asked, hoping it wasn't a tender topic.

He saw a flash of hurt run across her deep blue eyes, and he knew he had asked the wrong thing. Before she could say anything, however, he quickly added, "Not that I mind, mind you, I was just curious."

She smiled a bit, but it was easy to see the sadness in her smile.

"Well, contrary to what you may think, I only have a few friends."

Well, that was weird, Ichigo thought. She was probably the most popular girl in school.

"I know what you're thinking. 'She's probably the most popular girl in school,' right?"

He looked away, shrugging his shoulders.

"Let me put it this way," she said, looking down on his face. "I don't have many _real _friends."

"I can see why."

WHAP!

"Anyway," she continued, ignoring the sulking Ichigo, "After Renji left, my closest friend is probably Matsumoto."

He wanted to ask about this Renji guy, but he could wait. After all their relationship – even if they were really good friends in the past – wasn't properly defined as of yet.

"I could have told you that."

WHAP!

Ichigo snickered while Rukia continued. "Yeah, so I came here, because Matsumoto isn't around, and because nii-sama was out" – at this point a hurt look passed over her eyes – "and I was a bit lonely," she finished off lamely.

"Yeah, a bit lonely at eight o' clock in the morning," he said sarcastically.

Instead of the hit that he had expected her to give him, she spoke.

"Fine," she said, "I'm leaving, since I'm not wanted here."

She tried to get up, but Ichigo purposely kept his head on her lap. He grabbed one of her wrists that were pushing against the sofa to get up, and pulled her down towards him. He hadn't thought she was so light, and he pulled her a bit closer than he was meaning too. They both immediately started blushing at the proximity of their faces, but neither moved.

"Stay," Ichigo said, straining his voice.

She seemed to have understood him, and visibly relaxed. Though that didn't change the distance between their faces. She could feel herself leaning in, for no apparent reason.

Ichigo, on the other hand, was growing redder by the second. All his eyes focused on were her faint red lips – they were slightly open, and were almost inviting. Was it his imagination, or was she coming closer? His body was screaming for him to move up, just a few more centimetres, but his mind was yelling back at him to stop – it wasn't right. She had a boyfriend, and he had only made things up with her yesterday – even then their relationship was tenuous. Fighting his hormonal urges, he said, "I'll go cook the rest of the pancakes."

His voice had an instant effect on her, and she drew back, breathing slightly louder, and her face still red. He immediately leaned up, so that he was out of her lap, away from any more temptation. He stood up, and walked slowly to the kitchen, trying to ignore how cold his head was at the moment.

As soon as Rukia heard the oil sizzling again, she let out a breath. What had come over her then? She was almost going to…she shook her head. It was just her imagination. Just her imagination. She waited a few minutes, calming her breathing to normal before she even considered moving out of the sofa. She unconsciously licked her lips to dampen them, stood up, and followed Ichigo's footsteps to the kitchen.

Ichigo stood there, cooking pancakes as fast as he could. Anything to get his mind off what _nearly _happened. There was some sort of argument going on in his mind.

"_Man! You should have kissed her!"_

"_What? And ruin my relationship with her?"_

"_Pfft. What relationship? You don't have a relationship."_

"_I did."_

"_Yeah, you 'did'. Now you don't. Anyway, it could have just been a friend thing."_

"_Friend thing. Yeah, friend thing. NO! A kiss wouldn't be a friend thing!"_

"_You know you wanted to."_

"_Shut-up."_

"_Fine, fine. So what you were doing back then, was studying the structure of her lips. Which I must say, were very nice lips. Right?"_

"_SHUT THE FUCK UP!"_

He was so engrossed in his debate that he hadn't noticed that there was no more pancake mix left. This is how Rukia saw him, standing there, a blank look on his face, trying to empty a bowl of pancake mix that was already empty. She shook her head, and hid a smile.

"Ichigo, its empty."

He didn't respond, just kept tapping the plastic container on the side of the frypan.

"Ichigo," she said, this time a bit louder.

Still no response. She sighed and walked up to him, touching him gently on the arm. That certainly gave her a response. It took him about five-minutes to recover from shock and realise what he had been doing.

* * *

They sat at the dining table, a stack of pancakes stacked before them.

"Wow," she murmured as he prepared his first pancake with golden syrup. "So you actually got better at cooking."

He shot her a dirty look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know, this and that."

He gave an uncaring grunt, one that she was still getting used to. He hadn't changed much physically, as in looks, but he had changed a lot. Emotionally. She watched him eat, as she leant her elbows on the table, letting her face fall between her palms. She was so comfortable around him – something she couldn't explain. Even though she had just met the guy a week ago, barring the fact that they had been friends when they were little, she couldn't believe that she could feel so _at home _with him. And, he was probably feeling at home with her, she thought. After all, he _was _still in his sleepwear, and, by the way he was digging into his food, he obviously didn't really care if she saw how he ate. Unless he ate like this in front of everyone, which she highly doubted. Examining him during school, when they weren't fighting, she had noticed that he had been trying to build up a reputation. Something that went along with the lines of a bad-boy kind of guy. Somewhat like Renji, she thought, a smile coming to her face. Even though, Ichigo's marks certainly didn't reflect the typical bad-boy marks.

He looked up, seeing her smile. She really did look pretty when she smiled, he thought.

"If you say anything about our cooking incident in primary school, I'll strangle you."

She blinked a few times, before the message actually registered in her brain. "Oh! You remembered," she exclaimed, her smile becoming wider.

"Of course I remembered," he muttered underneath his breath. "How could I forget?"

Rukia just grinned. "Well, aside from the fact that you nearly burnt the whole canteen down, I'm sure nothing else really stuck in your memory," she said, placing her hands down on the table.

He gave his little grunt again, and finished off another pancake. As if noticing her for the first time he said, "Oh, do you want a pancake?"

She shook her head, the ends of her raven hair moving slightly from side to side. "I ate breakfast already."

He looked at her unbelievingly. "What time _do _you wake up?" he asked, wondering if she was one of those morning people.

She looked at him, a bit of hurt showing in her eyes. Blinking, they turned back to normal. "Sorry. I just thought you would have remembered."

"Remembered what?" he said, without thinking. Immediately he knew it was the wrong choice, because the same look of hurt passed through her dark blue eyes. "Sorry," he added gruffly, touching her hand.

She almost flinched at his touch, but relaxed afterwards. She shook her head. "It's ok."

An awkward moment of silence passed, but Ichigo didn't remove his hand.

"Do you remember…those holidays we used to spend together…I used to wake up _really _early to come over to your house and ask if you could play?"

Ichigo thought for a moment, though it wasn't easy with her face in front of him, practically begging for him to remember. Then his eyes softened a little.

"Yeah. My mum used to always wake me up, telling me that my friend had come to pick me up."

Rukia couldn't help but note the look of extreme sadness that passed across his face. Not because he didn't want to remember the memory, but because of his mother. She remembered the day before that he had implied that his mother had gone.

"Your mum…" she trailed off when Ichigo gripped her hand.

"Rukia. Can we…not…?" He said, with some difficulty.

She nodded, and he added, "Later."

She nodded again as he stood up, and started stacking the plates. She stood up wordlessly with him, and helped him bring the plates to the sink.

"I'll wash," she said, feeling a bit guilty that she had made him bring up his mother.

He looked at her weirdly, and then a look of understanding passed across his face. He hid a smile as he grabbed a drying cloth.

"What?" she asked, as she turned on the water.

"Nothing. I just find it funny…for some reason," he said lamely, obviously fibbing.

"Ichigo…" she said dangerously, mixing up some detergent in a small container.

"What?" he said, drying a bowl that was on the dish rack. He put it on the bench before turning to look at her with wide eyes. "It's nothing. Really."

"Whatever," she mumbled underneath her breath, rinsing the first dish.

For a while, they stayed like that, one drying, the other washing. Finally Ichigo spoke up.

"Do you remember the day when my mum put us in charge of washing?"

Her blank look soon turned to a happier one.

"And then we had to clean up the kitchen? Because someone decided to flick some soap bubbles in my eyes?"

"It was funny," he stated, putting away another plate.

"Hmmph," she said, turning back to her task at hand. It was cute how she wrinkled her nose up, when she said that word, Ichigo decided. Well, his rogue mind decided for him.

"Let me see," he said, hanging his dry cloth off his back pants pocket, and stepping up close to Rukia.

Rukia almost dropped the bowl she was holding, his gaze had mesmerised her. She tried to speak, but the closeness of him seemed to have taken away her ability to speak.

"It went something like this," he said, and with that he placed some soap bubbles on her forehead.

_That _snapped her out of her embarrassment. She angrily, but softly, placed the bowl she was holding and was about to throw some water at him, but with one hand, he caught her both her arms mid-way. She stared at his one hand angrily, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Uh-uh. No messing up this time," he said coolly. He grabbed the drying cloth from his back pocket with his other hand and softly wiped away the soapsuds. He grinned to himself when he found her slowly relaxing her hands in his grip.

After he finished wiping her face, he released her, stepping back.

He noticed that she didn't throw any projectiles or any volumes of water at him, like she usually would. "Hey, you grew up," he casually said, finishing off his drying.

"Hey, you didn't," she growled, annoyed that she had become so _defenceless _when he had stepped close to her.

* * *

**AN: **Hm…I'm a bit reluctant putting stuff in here now. Someone said my author notes are funny. They aren't funny! But, I'm glad you can laugh at unfunny stuff. It'll be a skill later on in life when your boss makes jokes and you need to laugh at them to get a pay rise.

Anyway, it was getting long, so I decided I might leave it there. I'll probably have another 4 chapters (don't quote me) for their weekend, if things are going the way this chapter went. Even though, I have this feeling that it'll be shorter than that. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Please review, and I'm really glad I hit over 100 reviews. It was a great experience (for seven chapters). Thanks to each and every one of you.

I probably won't be able to update for a bit, cause I have these horrible tasks I need to do for school, due in next week. So, wait a bit longer, and I'll update as soon as I can. Or you can just review me. That'll be cool as well. Probably up the chance of me updating faster (hint, hint).


	9. Courting Memories Part II

**AN: **Ugh. After 12 years of schooling, I have come to the convincing conclusion: It sucks. Anyway, yeah, this update will be pretty late, but what can you do? HAHA! NOTHING! lol.. I wish you could do something though. I'd rather write than school. Hmm…what else…If there's any OOC, well, sorry, but it _is _AU.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

* * *

**Return to no Home: Courting Memories (Part II)  
**

**

* * *

**

"Ichigo."

"Huh?"

They were sitting on the sofa, on opposite ends, facing each other. They had finished up the kitchen chores and had opted for the relaxing option in the lounge. They had turned on the TV for a while, but after finding absolutely nothing in the form of entertainment, well, good entertainment, they switched it off, and drifted into a semi-comfortable silence.

"Why isn't anyone in your house?" Rukia asked carefully, as if there might have been a sobering reason behind the loneliness in his house. It wasn't that she was feeling lonely, it was just that, if she remembered correctly he did have two sisters – and where was his dad?

"Oh. That," he said uncaringly.

She felt relieved inside.

"It's because dad took Yuzu and Karin to see grandpa."

She raised an eyebrow. "And you?"

"I can't stand the guy. He's dad's dad, so that makes him a hell of a lot worse for some reason."

She furrowed her brows. She thought she had known this guy, she thought they were best friends. But there was so much she didn't know about him that it felt somehow…disappointing.

Ichigo noticed her confused expression, and ventured to explain.

"Do you remember…my dad – he's always mucking around, being stupid?"

She thought for a while, and then a small smile formed on her lips. "Oh yeah, like the time –"

"Ok, ok," he said, cutting her off from whatever embarrassing moment she was going to call up. "Yeah, grandpa's like that, except 25 years older and probably 25 times as worse as dad."

She grinned, but Ichigo could tell something was hiding behind her small smile. He looked at her quizzically.

"What?" she said, noticing him studying her.

"Nothing. You looked…sad for some reason," he shrugged. It was probably nothing.

A short silence followed.

"Yeah. I was just thinking what it would be like to have a grandfather."

Immediately after she said it, he felt guilty. Really guilty. Here he was, saying that he hated his grandfather, while Rukia – she didn't even have one to hate. He felt awkward for the first time since…he couldn't remember the last time he felt bad for things such as these.

"Uh…" he started, not looking at her. "Sorry," he apologised. Why the hell did he care anyway? It was just a stupid thing. But somehow, he really didn't like the thought of doing something that hurt _this _girl.

"It's ok. I was only kidding," she said casually.

It took him a total of three seconds for this statement to sink in.

"What?" he asked unbelievably.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "It's funny to see you all serious," she said, as if that was supposed to be an explanation.

"Hn," he grunted, not wanting to be the butt of her jokes again.

Rukia hid a smile; it was almost as if he was sulking. It was too cute.

"Actually, its because I don't really know you."

"Huh?"

"You know…back then, you were all happy. Now its like you're all angry, and sad."

Her blunt words hit him hard.

"Oh. Well I suppose you wouldn't exactly stay normal if your mum had died three weeks ago," he said, biting his words harshly. Rukia could see the pain in his eyes.

"Sorry," she said, and she leaned over to him, but he swatted her hand away, looking at her with those deep, brown, pain filled eyes.

"Forget it," he said coldly, standing up and walking behind the sofa to the bottom of the stairs. He was about to ascend to his bedroom when he felt two slender arms encircle his stomach.

It was Rukia, she had hugged him from behind, burying her face in his back.

"Ichigo – I'm sorry, ok?" she said, her voice sounding muffled because she was speaking into his clothes.

"Hn." He didn't respond to her hug at all, but he didn't try to move away from it either.

"It's just that…I feel like I don't know you anymore…but I-I want to…" her voice trailed off with uncertainty.

He made no move.

"Ichigo, turn around, dammit," she said softly, releasing him from her hold. He just stood there, not knowing what to do.

Finally, after what seemed a decade, he turned around to face her. She was looking down, not letting her eyes meet his. He put his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up.

"No. It's not your fault," he said, his voice slightly softer than usual. With that, he turned around and walked slowly up the stairs, leaving Rukia stunned.

"Ichigo, wait!" she called out when he was halfway up the staircase.

"What?" he said, sounding annoyed.

"I thought…well…" she trailed off. Didn't he just tell her it was ok, but he still left her behind? "What are you doing?" she finished off lamely.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Just going to change. Be back in a bit," he said and walked up the stairs again.

She watched him walk up the stairs and breathed out a silent sigh of relief. That meant everything was ok, right? She went back and sat on the sofa, flipping through some random magazine, but not really reading it. She was sitting like this for a few minutes until Ichigo came down the stairs.

"Hey, Rukia," he said, as if it was normal for him to have her in his house.

"Yeah?" she answered, not taking her eyes off the magazine. She didn't know whether it was safe or not.

"Want to go out somewhere?"

"Huh?" she said, clearly surprised.

"You know," he said, running a hand through his orange hair. "You sure you just want to hang around the house all day? It _is _pretty boring…" he trailed off, hoping she would catch the hint. She did.

"Ok, sure," she smiled a small smile, happy that he had invited her to go somewhere. She stood up from the sofa, and placed the magazine down on the coffee table. "Hmm," she said, not moving.

Ichigo arched an eyebrow from the stairs.

"Can you wait outside your house for me? I gotta go change."

* * *

Ichigo sat on the front steps of his house, just thinking. He was thinking because he had nothing else to do really. Rukia was taking her good sweet time, he thought. Probably means she grew up. Being a girl and all, taking long. Why the hell did she need to go get changed anyway, he asked himself. All he had told her was that they were going out, but that didn't mean they were going to some classy dance party or something. All he had in mind was exploring the other side of town. 

Absentmindedly, he wondered what she wore to look good outside of school. For sure, he had seen her outside of school uniform, just this morning in fact – but the clothes she was wearing looked too casual. Actually, he wouldn't have minded walking around with her wearing those clothes. Obviously she minded – and a lot – by the way she was taking her time 'changing'.

He popped his head up when he heard the front door of her house open. There was Rukia, dressed in simple baggy blue jeans, and a black spaghetti-strap top.

Ichigo sighed in relief. At least she hadn't overdressed. He would have hated to walk around with her if she dressed like…It wasn't that he didn't like what girls wore, it was just that when girls dressed to flashy, or too preppy, it got on his nerves. It was like they were showing off or something. And it annoyed him. He would much rather someone dressed like Rukia…just plain and simple. It suited him better.

"_Suits you better, huh?"_

"_Shut-up."_

Lately his mind had been having these thoughts that didn't exactly fit into his persona. They were about Rukia. Speaking of which, she seemed to have finally locked the front door of her house, and was standing at the bottom of the steps of his house, looking up at him expectantly.

"Took your damn time," he said, slightly annoyed.

"I'm a girl, Ichigo. We're allowed to take our time," she retorted, sticking out her tongue at him.

He closed his mouth. It wasn't like there was much to say back to that. He sighed, stood up, and walked down the short steps to stand beside her.

"Ok, let's go," he said, and started to walk towards the footpath.

"Wait."

_What now? _"What?" he said, trying to keep his annoyance out of his voice.

"How do I look," she asked, standing in front of him.

"Huh? Oh. You look ok," he said, uncaringly.

Rukia tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Just, _ok_?"

Ichigo sighed. The reason why he didn't want to say anything more, was because his stupid mind would start going off into tangents that he didn't really want to explore.

"Ok, you look nice."

"Just _nice_?"

He gave another sigh, exasperated. Rukia hid a smile.

"Joking, joking," she said, as she followed him onto the footpath. "Jeez, why is it that guy's find it so hard to talk about a girl's appearance to her?"

Ichigo looked down at her. "It's a guy thing."

She looked up at him with a blank look. "I know. That's why I'm asking you. Unless…" she added, a sly note injected in her voice.

"Well, you know," he said a bit hastily, trying not to get caught in her verbal trap. "It's just…awkward."

"But why?"

Ichigo looked straight ahead. Even though it was just before midday, there was hardly anyone on the roads. Karakura was certainly a quiet suburb. "Well," he started, returning to her question. "Guy's usually think the girl looks great…it's just that trying to explain it to girls…isn't a strong point."

"I see," she said, not really seeing it at all. For sure, she could understand that it was a bit awkward, but in the end, did it really matter? "So…you thought I looked great, but you couldn't tell me?" she teased.

"N-no!" he denied, a tinge of red gracing his cheeks.

She hid another smile from him – sometimes he acted so childishly. She put on a frown. "So you don't think I look great?"

"N-no…its not that…its…" he stopped eventually, lost for words.

"Its…?" she questioned him, knowing that he was feeling very awkward at the moment. But it was too fun to see him blush, and act all defensive. It was like he was so innocent.

"It's…you look great, ok?" he said, looking away, his hands stuck firmly in his pockets.

She smiled. She didn't really expect him to come out and say it, she would have thought he just wouldn't have answered, or told her that she didn't look great – it would be explainable, given his very moody character. But, she thought, as she smiled wider, her stomach did do a little jump when he had said it. She hadn't felt that butterflies-in-stomach feeling since…the beginning of high school, when Renji had complimented her for the first time – after going out with her for about six months. He was never good with words, she thought fondly.

"Thanks," she said, really meaning it. He didn't say anything back, just kept looking away.

After she said that, they settled back to silence. Though, after the initial awkwardness – it was a very comfortable silence, Rukia thought. After a while, she asked him, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"I probably know where we're going anyway."

He looked down at her, then back in front of him again. He couldn't talk and look at her at the same time. Her creamy shoulders were distracting for some reason.

"Yeah. You probably do."

"So…why not tell me?"

"Because…it's a place I remember mum took me once…so I don't exactly know what its called."

"Oh." Whenever he mentioned his mum…she got awkward. After what had happened…she was a bit afraid of offending him again.

As if reading her mind, he said, "It's ok."

If any person had heard their conversation, they would have wondered what Ichigo was on about. What was 'ok'? But, both of them knew, and it was enough for them. There was no need to voice it out in words.

* * *

She didn't want to believe it, but Ichigo had picked a pretty nice place. Even though, she sort of expected it. This was the place where families went to spend a day out together, and…couples. Though, she knew that Ichigo didn't bring her there because they were a couple, but it would have been fun. She felt too much hurt after Renji had gone. She didn't even know when he was coming back. 

"Oi. What's up?" Ichigo said, noticing the sad expression on his friend's face.

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. "Do you not like this place, or something?"

She shook her head. "It's not that. I was just thinking of something."

Ichigo decided not to press her any further, because they had just come up to an ice cream stall.

"Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?" he asked Rukia, as he ordered.

"Um…strawberry," she said, smiling sweetly at the attendant, who promptly smiled back.

"I'll take chocolate, thanks," he said.

A few moments later they were walking along the wide footpath. Ichigo had actually remembered this place from when his whole family went there. It was a popular family destination actually, this small lake. Even though it was called a lake, it was more like a large pond, really, because you could walk around it in about five to ten minutes. Despite its size, there was a small marina, that offered hire of paddle boats, which was popular with young couples.

Ichigo and Rukia walked about halfway around the large pond before they decided on a bench that was placed a fair way away from the path, but was still in the view of the pond. They sat in silence, eating their ice cream, watching couples paddle aimlessly across the surface of the water.

"Rukia," he said, not taking his eyes off the water. They were sitting on the same bench, close enough to be close friends, but far enough from each other to not be mistaken as a couple.

"Mm?" she answered, also not moving her gaze.

"Why'd you choose strawberry? I thought you hated it…"

It took her a while to answer.

"I do…well I did."

He didn't say anything, implying that she should continue.

"It's your fault you know."

He stopped slurping his ice cream. "What?" He asked, racking his brains of what he did to make her choose the flavour strawberry. Nothing came to mind.

This time she turned and looked at him, amused at his reaction. "I don't mean now."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Well…when you left, I…" she trailed off, turning her head to watch the paddle boats float calmly, directionless.

_When you left._

"Anyway, it was one of the ways I could remember you…unconsciously."

He didn't say anything. The issue of him leaving wasn't sorted out between him and her – yet. She obviously didn't understand the full situation; from the way he heard the hurt in her voice.

"Because, you know," she added hurriedly, "Your name, and how it can also be strawberry…" she drifted off into a smile, remembering the time when she had asked him about his name. He had gotten so defensive, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Hn," he said uncaringly. "I don't care."

"Oh?" she taunted him. "So, I can call you strawberry?"

"No."

"But I thought you don't care."

"Shut-up."

She grinned. He was so strikingly similar, yet so different she didn't know what to think. Sure, he had changed from his usually bubbly attitude, but, like he had said, what would you expect when your parent has just recently died. But it was more than that, she thought, chewing on her ice cream cone. It was really like he grew up – it was like he saw the reality of life. As for her, she had seen the reality of life from a young age, but Ichigo…he must have only started seeing it recently.

He looked at her, waiting patiently for her to finish. If she was in front of him while doing something he didn't mind waiting. If, however, she was somewhere else, telling him to wait, then that's what he couldn't handle. He allowed himself a small smile when some pink ice cream dribbled down her chin because she had tried to finish it too quickly.

"Uh…Ichigo," she said, tilting her head upwards so that the ice cream wouldn't drip onto her top. It did drip to her neck however.

"What?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Don't be an ass, wipe it off," she said, sounding irritated.

"What?" he said. "Do it yourself."

"I…can't," she said with some difficulty, head still in the air. "My hands…are sticky."

He sighed, and took his own napkin from his finished ice cream. Luckily he was a clean eater, and he hadn't needed to use the napkin. His friend, however, wasn't as clean as him.

He leant over, trying to ignore the heat that rose to his face because he was so close to her bare shoulders. Touching her bare shoulders nearly knocked him out. He had to hold her opposite shoulder to steady his other hand when he was going to wipe the offending ice cream. He shook his head to clear the thoughts that were rising to his brain, and gently wiped her neck in a soft upward motion. As he got to her chin, she straightened her head, and he softly wiped the ice cream of, lingering slightly at the corner of her lips. He refused to meet her eyes, though he knew that her dark blue orbs were trying to search his eyes. He could just feel it.

"You haven't changed," he said quietly, after he took his hands away from her shoulder.

She looked at him quizzically.

"Still a messy eater," he explained.

"Hmph," she huffed, and turned away, not looking at him. For some reason it was embarrassing.

"I don't really care," she heard him say, but she didn't turn just then.

"Though, I would have thought you would have grown up enough to eat properly," he said with a snicker.

That did it. She turned around and punched him in the arm. Hard. She smirked when he clutched his shoulder. He straightened up after a while.

"You really haven't changed," he said, not unkindly. "You still punch hard as well," he said with a pained smile.

She smiled triumphantly. "I always win," she exclaimed happily.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Girls. He bit his tongue to stop himself from saying that it didn't really hurt, he was really just saying that. Even though, unlike every other girl he knew, her punch actually did inflict quite a bit of pain. He turned back and looked across the water. Most of the people paddling had stopped now; there was only one or two that were left. He ached to ask her if they could go on one, but he told himself that it would be improper. For sure, they _had _been best friends…but still. It was like a romantic event – and from what he gathered, she had a boyfriend, even though her boyfriend was an asshole, in his opinion. What kind of person would leave her just like that? He gave her a sideways glance. She was looking at the water as well, not looking bored, but content. He gave a silent sigh of relief. At least she wasn't like those other girls he had known. It was so hard to keep them interested on a date, but with her…he could just say nothing and all, and probably feel that it was a good time afterwards.

"Hey, Ichigo," she said, not turning her head.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about…your mother…"

* * *

**AN: **HAHAHAH! I got bored, so I thought a cliffhanger could spice things up a bit. Too bad. Oh well, it was kind of a long chapter for me. Anyway, finished up my assessment tasks for this week. Feel alright about them…cept that my sleep patterns are now disturbed due to lack of sleep, lack of sleep at the right times, too many hours awake…you get the point. Anyway, review, or I won't update. MUAHAHA! I'll just write the chapters for myself. Hey, I enjoy reading my own stories…not… 


	10. Courting Memories Part III

**AN: **Wow, it feels like ages since I've updated. Well, it has. Sorry…really, circumstances have blown up and yeah, I've been studying more than writing. The way it should be really, but it isn't the fun way. Thanks for reviewing my last chapter, and I hope this one is fulfilling. Now, just try to read the scenes carefully, because there is some parts where you are actually in the past. (sorta like the last few chapters) Well, anyway, I found some free time (amazing, isn't it), and I think I'll write the next chapter. By the way, it might be hard for you to actually get this chapter since I haven't updated in ages, so go read the previous one, just to refresh your memory.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

* * *

**Return to no Home: Courting Memories (Part III)**

**

* * *

**

"Where are your parents?"

The sun had gone down deeper, and the colour of the pavement turned a deep orange. The park was empty, except for two small figures – one on the swing, one standing before her.

The girl started crying. Again. The knuckles on her fist turned pale white as she gripped the swing. The orange haired kid didn't know what to do. He had made her smile – that was what his mum always did, right?

"It's getting late you know," he said, after a moment's deliberation. It was something his dad always said to him when he walked in to his room. The boy loved copying his dad's phrase.

"I have to go soon."

The girl didn't stop crying – in fact, it became louder. Did she want him to stay? But what would his parents think? The four year old shoved these thoughts out of his mind, as he thought of what his mother would do. That was it – his mother would definitely stop everything else and try and make the person stop crying.

The boy approached the girl slowly, cautiously. He reached out a small arm, and touched her shoulder gently.

"Are your parents gone?"

The girl gave a slight nod amidst her tears. "Nii-sama said…they couldn't come back… for us."

The small boy's eyes opened in shock, but he didn't say anything. His four-year-old mind was still trying to comprehend that parents would actually leave. Leave?

"…"

"I don't…I don't know what to say," said the boy, honestly at loss for words.

The girl shook her head. "I don't want to go home," she said softly, looking at the ground. "I'm lonely…" she whispered, but the boy heard her.

"No!"

The girl looked up from the swing surprised at his outburst. She even stopped crying. The boy looked surprised at his own outburst, but he continued by saying, "You're lonely, right?"

She looked at him hopelessly.

"You shouldn't be. Because…because…"

She continued to look at him, while the four-year-old searched for the right words in his limited vocabulary. Suddenly his face lit up.

"Because, you can have a home," he finished, sounding serious.

She looked at him, slightly confused.

"You can come to my place!" He beamed at her, even though she was looking at him like she didn't understand a word he said.

"Come on!" he exclaimed, extending his hand towards her.

* * *

"No." 

She couldn't believe her ears. It was the _fifth _time she had asked. _And _she had waited an hour before she had asked. But Ichigo hadn't relented.

"But…"

"Rukia," his voice sounded pained, and she knew she would have to stop asking.

"I just wanted to know…about you. I told you…you know."

"Yeah."

She sighed. He wasn't going to give her a straight response. "Later?"

"Maybe." He didn't turn to look at her; he was still looking at the water.

"You better," she warned lowly, looking at the side of his face. He had really filled out after all these years. She had to admit, the scowling face Ichigo put on actually suited him. Even though, as a kid, when he smiled it was so cute, she couldn't imagine him smiling.

They sat in silence.

"It's getting late, you know."

"Mmm," was her reply. She smiled softly. Ichigo had always used to say that when they were small. But, she hadn't felt this much at peace for…well, a long time. At home she didn't feel peaceful, she felt lonely. Her brother was always out on business trips, and whenever he was home he was an ice-cold presence. Sure, she knew that deep down they loved each other, but he seemed to have a problem with expressing his emotions. Not that she could blame him. He had been very different before his wife had died.

"Meaning, we have to go home. Wouldn't your brother get worried?"

She twisted her face into a small smile. "He's not going to come home this weekend."

"Huh? You said that…"

"I said he was 'out', right? Well," she sighed before continuing, "Yeah, he's out. Out for the whole weekend."

"He lets you stay at home?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked dangerously.

"Not that way," he said, putting up his hands to defend himself. "I mean like, food, you being alone, and stuff like that."

"I can take care of myself. I've had to, since my parents died."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry," he mumbled, not knowing why. She had already told him about her parent's deaths when they first had met.

An awkward silence passed between them.

"Well, uh, I should still get you home on time anyway," he said, scratching the back of his head.

She smiled softly to herself. He didn't seem the type to be like this. "Yeah," she replied, but didn't move.

Ichigo stood up, stretching. They must have sat on that bench for hours, he thought absentmindedly. Where had time gone? He looked down at the girl sitting down on the bench. The answer was her. He couldn't believe that he didn't notice the time going by when he was with her. He stopped himself from smiling, and scowled. Rukia had made no effort to move.

"Oi. Let's go already."

_The girl shook her head. "I don't want to go home," she said softly, looking at the ground. "I'm lonely…" she whispered, but the boy heard her._

"I don't want to go home." Rukia added something else, but Ichigo didn't quite catch it.

Ichigo sighed. There was something familiar about the way she said 'I don't want to go home'. Before he could puzzle it out, he found his mouth forming the word before his brain registered.

"No."

_The girl looked up from the swing surprised at his outburst. She even stopped crying. The boy looked surprised at his own outburst, but he continued by saying, "You're lonely, right?_

Ichigo looked at his raven-haired friend meaningfully. "I know why you don't want to go home."

Rukia didn't look up from the ground.

"You're lonely."

Rukia didn't say anything, but she smiled inwardly. Ichigo never changed. Oh sure, he had changed since she had last seen him – he had developed some sort of 'tough' attitude, but she knew that inside, he was still the same boy that she had met in the park, all those years ago.

"_Come on!" he exclaimed, extending his hand towards her._

Ichigo sighed once again, and put his hand out. "Come on."

She looked up slightly, when he extended his hand in front of her. Her first thoughts were, 'Is he for real?' When he didn't move his hand she grasped it, and he pulled her up off the bench. She felt his hand start to pull away, but she tightened her hold. Somehow it just felt right to hold his hand, even if nothing was happening between them.

He shot her a questioning glance.

She shrugged her bare shoulders in response. She was a girl; she didn't need to explain her actions. And she knew that he wouldn't pursue it either.

He looked away from her, and started walking. It was late afternoon, and this was the time when couples roamed the streets. Ichigo closed his eyes briefly. They would look just like any other couple, bar the fact that since Karakura was a small town most people would already know Rukia. And know that her boyfriend wasn't him. He sighed. Not like he cared what other people thought, but still…

"Rukia."

"Mmm?"

She looked up at him questioningly.

"Won't it be bad?"

"Huh?"

"You know, walking like this."

"You don't want to?"

"I didn't say that. But isn't it awkward? I mean the people…"

"I don't care."

And that was that. They walked down the quiet neighbourhood streets, ignoring the stares from random passers-by. He wasn't really uncomfortable with the staring; it was the feel of her small hand in his. It just…fit so perfectly, he mused.  
But, he knew it didn't mean anything. Even though he hadn't talked to Rukia for years, he could still tell when she was feeling down. Now was one of those times. She just needed a friend, and that's what he would be. Just a friend. Just a friend that held her hand. Friends didn't do that, he scolded himself mentally. Jeez, she had a damn boyfriend anyway. But really, he couldn't look at her without noticing that she had grown into a very beautiful girl. He tried to quell those feelings because he knew it would probably escalate into something that he wouldn't have control over.

_"You can't hurt her again."_

"_I know."_

As they neared their houses he felt her hand stir. He let her go in front of his house.

"What now?" she asked him.

_"You can come to my place!" He beamed at her, even though she was looking at him like she didn't understand a word he said._

Ichigo looked to the side, now knowing the words she had said minutes, years ago. She was lonely. He didn't want to admit it, and he probably never would, but he was lonely too.

"You can come to my place…" he said hesitatingly, "If you want," he hastily added. "I mean, I'm only doing some schoolwork…"

He didn't look at Rukia, so he missed her genuine smile.

"You're a nerd."

He turned to look at her, but her smile had already changed to amusement.

"Yeah. People at school don't know that though, so it's ok."

* * *

They had put their books away, and were sitting on the floor of his bedroom. She was sitting with her back against the closet, while he was sitting with his back against the bed. He was amazed at Rukia's attention span. Every few minutes he found himself looking at the girl that was his friend. Was his friend – they were probably friends now, but there was no way Ichigo was going to ask her such a lame question. He glanced at his clock. It read 9:00 PM. 

"Ichigo," Rukia said, her voice measured.

"What?"

"What do you usually do on Saturday nights?"

"Oh. Not much."

She raised an eyebrow, as if expecting something else.

"What?" he asked her, slightly crossly.

"Nothing," she said, pointing her perfect nose in the air in a way that irritated Ichigo.

Oh God, he thought, she probably wants me to remember something else. Damn. How did this girl expect him to remember every single detail about their friendship?

"I guess I better go then," she said, looking to the side, her gaze bouncing off the walls off the room, looking at anywhere but him.

Ichigo pulled at his orange hair in frustration. What was it?

* * *

"Come on, mum! Can't I go already?" 

The woman smiled. "Ok, its all ready now. Do you want me to come with you to her house?"

"No. I'm six years old now! I can do this myself."

The woman smiled again as she watched her son walk out the front door. She leant on the doorframe to watch him walk all the way from their house to the next-door neighbour's house. She gasped quietly as two strong hands encircled her body from behind.

"Are you sure its ok?" said a low voice behind her.

"Yes, dear. I already talked to Rukia-chan's older brother. He doesn't mind at all."

"He doesn't? She will be sleeping over -"

"He doesn't. Now be quiet, and watch your son ask a girl on her first date."

"This is the first 'First date' I've heard of where the girl gets to sleepover in the same –"

"Just watch," said the woman, cutting off her husband.

The two adults stood there, and watched in amusement, as the older brother of the household opened. They laughed quietly as they saw their son casually ask if his friend was available.

"He doesn't seem intimidated at all," whispered the woman.

"I wasn't intimidated when I asked your parents on our first date," the man whispered back.

"You weren't six."

"He's my boy."

"No. He's a lot more braver than you."

The two adults fell back into amused silence when a pretty, six-year-old girl walked up to the doorway. Their casual son didn't seem so casual anymore, as he delivered his request to her. They smiled together when the girl answered his request with an excited 'yes', and ran back into the house.

* * *

Ichigo stood in the bathroom, closing his eyes, and breathing in deep, long breaths. This is not happening at all, he said to himself softly, even though he knew that he was totally wrong. After taking an extra long breath, he walked down the hallway, but before he opened his door, he looked over his shoulder. 

_10:01 PM_

Exhaling once more, he opened the door to his bedroom.

* * *

**AN: **…and saw a shinigami! Named Rukia! Lol, right, um yeah, hope you guys like this new update, I know, I know, I haven't updated in like 6 million years, but I tried to make this one as satisfying as possible. Oh, I know you want the to see the next chapter. Well, review me, and I'll give you guys the honour. Anyway, I suppose you guys can see what's happening here anyway...muahaha, and I think you like it... 


	11. Courting Memories Part IV

**AN: **Hey guys, its 2:43 AM – time to fork out my greatest works fanfiction has ever seen. Lol, right. Thanks for all the reviews, really appreciate the feedback.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach

* * *

**Return to no Home: Courting Memories (Part IV)**

**

* * *

**

Rukia was there, obviously.

That usually wouldn't have mattered, but the fact that she was at his house, at night, in his room, did matter. And how she cute she looked in her pyjamas didn't help matters at all.

_She has a boyfriend!_

Taking another deep breath, Ichigo took one step into his room. It had acquired a different smell, no, scent, he noticed. Girl-like. He wasn't sure if he liked it, but the smell did remind him of Rukia so he let it slide.

Rukia looked up slightly as he stood in the doorway. She was sitting cross-legged on his bed, even though Ichigo had very kindly put out a mattress for her. Even though his bed was a double bed, there was no way in the world that they were sleeping in the same bed. He had almost had a heart attack when Rukia suggested that she do what they had done some Saturday nights back when they were six. Six, for crying out loud. That memory had come back to him once he had gotten the initial shock of the idea of Rukia sleeping over. Stupid girl. Even though, once he had recovered the memory, all he had thought of was fun, though he was struggling to keep out his normal teenage thoughts out of the equation.

But, he mused in his mind, she must really be lonely. He felt a twinge of pain mixed with guilt as he remembered that he was the one that left her, all those years ago. His fault. There was no way that was going to happen again.

Lost in his thoughts, he had been leaning against the doorframe, seemingly staring at her. Rukia had opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't, and started to blush. Ichigo was looking at her in a way she had never thought possible. Not that she minded, it was just that he wasn't trying to hide it one bit.

Finally, she got out his name.

"Ichigo," she said, with some difficulty. His gaze had impaired her speech.

Her voice snapped him out of his memories, and he shook his head. "Huh?"

Still feeling the after effects of her blush, she looked away. "Are you sure its ok…" she trailed off, leaving him to figure out the rest of her words, a trait common to most females, Ichigo noted.

"Yes. It's ok," he said, for the third time. He couldn't understand her, really. She had suggested the idea, would have killed him if he had said no, and then spent the rest of the time asking him if it was all right. It wasn't all right, really, because he was a teenager, she was a teenager, and more importantly they were teenagers of the opposite sex – it just wasn't proper for them to be sleeping in the same room. Even if they did do it when they were six, seven, and eight.

But, even though all laws of society were against this, Ichigo threw them all away, and had accepted that she stay in his house for the night. In his room, to be more precise. After all, he thought to himself, her brother is gone, and his family was gone – there was nothing wrong with the two of them catching up on old times. Even though, being with her, he hadn't been thinking about the 'old times' too much, he had been more pre-occupied with the present. Especially since she had grown to become so attractive. That was a big factor.

He sat down on the side of his double bed, looking down at Rukia, who hadn't moved from the middle of his bed. If he was a girl, they would probably be giggling right now, talking about the latest gossip, what clothes to wear, what guys they had met – except he wasn't.

That was why a big silence hung in the air.

"I didn't think you would remember," Rukia said softly, not trusting herself to look at Ichigo. She had decided that she was happy that Ichigo was looking at her like that, but she wasn't really sure if he meant it. Whether he did mean it or not, that would be a different story. And if he did mean it, she didn't know whether she would be happy about that – she did have a boyfriend – though recently she needed to consciously remind herself of that fact. Somehow, being with Ichigo had made her forget Renji. Oh, not totally forget Renji, as in, totally removed from her mind, just forgetting Renji like her brain had decided to put all thoughts and feelings for Renji in a special little corner for her to come back and take. She didn't know whether that was a good or bad thing.

"Hn," was his reply. "Of course I remembered," he said, telling a half-truth. "My mum suggested the damn idea to me."

"Oh?" she said teasingly. "And all these years I thought it was all you."

"Sorry to break your heart, then." He was referring to her finding out that the idea of a sleepover was not originally his, but his mother's. But, as soon as the words were out, he knew he had said the wrong thing. She obviously had some pretty deep wounds, because she just looked away, and mumbled a small 'Yeah'.

Damn, he thought in his mind.

A tender silence filled the air, and Ichigo was annoyed at the tension he had just created.

"Sorry," he muttered, not actually knowing what he was sorry about, just knowing that he wanted her to act normal again. Then again, who could act normal with a girl about his age in his room without any parental supervision this late at night?

More awkward silence.

Ichigo racked his brains. Or, more accurately, racked his memories. Something clicked, and he knew something they could do, though he didn't know if it would be safe.

"Hey," he said, trying to sound neutral.

She looked at him, some hurt evident in her eyes. Ichigo cursed silently, but he continued.

"That movie we always used to watch…I still have it."

He hid a grin as he saw her face light up. "Really?"

Ichigo really needed to exercise greater control of his facial expressions, as he couldn't help but give a small smile when she started blubbering on about how she hadn't seen the movie in ages, her favourite scenes, and why etc.

They headed downstairs to watch the movie. Ichigo, had actually, by pure chance had stumbled across it earlier in the week, and had taken note of its position in the house. If he hadn't, they would probably have had a hard time finding it.

He let her sit down on the couch first, while he made the excuse to quickly make some popcorn.

Just like before, Rukia thought, as she sat on the couch, except that his mum would be making it for us. Rukia had loved those sleepovers. Her brother made sure she was in bed at a certain time every night, so when her sleepover-with-Ichigo night came around, she was happy that she got to stay up way past her bedtime. And, she loved popcorn.

Just thinking about Ichigo's mother bought pain. For those four years where she had been with Ichigo, Rukia had begun to look at Mrs. Kurosaki as a mother – or at least, a motherly figure. Her lips tilted upwards a tiny bit, as she reminisced over the good times they had had together. And Ichigo. Always being such a mummy's boy.

Her ears pricked up slightly at the resounding ping of the microwave, and looked up expectantly. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Ichigo came in with a large bowl of popcorn. He placed it on the coffee table, and joined her on the couch. Rukia couldn't help but feel disappointed when he left a notably large space between them. It was like he was afraid of her, or something. She shrugged. She would fix that later.

Halfway through the movie, the popcorn finished, she quietly announced that she would be going to the bathroom. Ichigo paused the movie obediently and waited for her to return.

When he heard the click of the bathroom door, he let out a long breath. Throughout the whole movie he had been tense. With the lights out in the house, he had to literally restrain himself from moving closer and closer to Rukia. That was why, initially, he had made a point to sit the furthest he could away from her – the temptation was too great. Ichigo just thought that this was just due to his hormones, though his heart told him differently. What didn't cross his mind was that if it was any other girl he would not have done the same. Actually, he probably wouldn't have cared less. But with Rukia, it was like…

He heard her pad softly down the stairs, and he immediately tensed up again, inching away from her previous spot. He found himself on the edge of the couch, leaning on the armrest. While he leaned forward to get the remote, Rukia sat down.

There was nothing wrong with that. What was wrong, however, was that she sat down extremely close to him. When he froze, she looked at him questioningly. He realised what an idiot he would have looked like, having an open mouth while outstretching the remote, but not pressing any buttons.

He quickly pressed the play button, but didn't actually watch the movie. He was too busy thinking of what he was about to do when Rukia turned to look at him. She was so damn close, he thought, when she looked at him. He had to grip onto the armrest tightly to stop himself from leaning in just that little bit more to kiss her. He didn't know why, it was just that her shadowed lips looked tantalisingly desirable close up. It was her fault for sitting so damn close.

Even though he liked it. Taking in deep breaths – but not so deep that Rukia would notice – he slowly calmed himself down. Awkwardly, he placed his hand on the backrest, as the outside of his broad shoulders seemed to be getting in the way of his closeness with Rukia. Rukia didn't seem to notice. Anyway, he told himself, it wasn't like he was putting his arm around her, he was just putting his arm on the back of the couch, which also happened to be behind her. That was it. She seemed intent on watching the movie anyway.

However, when she silently moved her head onto his shoulder, he nearly broke his resolve. His mind was going crazy, he inhaled deeply to try and calm himself down, but all he got was a nice whiff of Rukia's scented shampoo. Great. So much for calming down. He was glad the room was dark, because he was blushing. God, all he wanted to do now was just put his arms around her and kiss her deeply. She, on the other hand, was watching a movie.

She must have noticed his unease by now, because took her head off his shoulder and asked uncertainly, "Ichigo?"

"Hm?" he replied nonchalantly, trying to mask his lack of composure.

"What's wrong?" she asked, softer than usual.

"Nothing. Watch the movie," he said, now wishing that she would just put her head back on his shoulder.

Lucky for him, she did just that. He had mixed emotions when the movie came to an end. Throughout the movie his hand had finally found its way from the top of the backrest to Rukia's nicely rounded shoulders.

The credits rolled their way through the screen, but neither of them made any movements. This was probably the closest they had been all day, Rukia thought, somewhat happily. When the screen finally turned black they just sat there in silence, both thinking 'What now?'

Eventually, it was Ichigo that moved. Reluctantly, he lifted his arm from behind her, and said in the dark, "It's a bit late."

Rukia nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. They both got up from the couch, and when Ichigo turned off the television, it was pitch black. He made a mental note to get the popcorn bowl in the morning.

"Rukia."

"Mm?"

He reached out tentatively and touched her arm. He trailed softly down it until he felt her hand. She instinctively tightened her fingers, and let him guide her to his bedroom. At first she had been slightly confused, but in the end she smiled to herself when she figured out what he was doing. Ichigo. Funnily enough, beyond his tough guy act he was always thinking of others.

After performing the traditional bathroom-toilet routine, they climbed into their respective beds.

After a few moments of silence, Rukia spoke.

"Ichigo?"

"What?"

"Goodnight."

"Oh," she heard him mumble. "Goodnight," he said, after a few seconds of quiet.

When he closed his eyes, he slept.

* * *

She hadn't. She could swear it had been an hour since she had heard his even breathing and had deducted that he was asleep. She couldn't. She kept thinking back to the events that had just happened – she was glad Ichigo had placed his arm around her. In truth, she wasn't actually watching the movie, she spent more time wondering what Ichigo would do if she put her head on his shoulder. She had noticed he had been slightly uneasy, but after the initial unrest, she had found that he had got settled quite quickly.

Actually, she didn't know what she wanted him to do. One side of her brain was telling her that she had a boyfriend, but the other side was telling her that her supposed boyfriend had left her to pursue his career. Oh sure, that was a pretty good excuse, but to Rukia that seemed like the most unreasonable thing ever. Plus, Ichigo made her feel…like herself. She wanted to be herself, something she couldn't properly be in front of Renji. Even in front of her brother. But with Ichigo, it felt like she could just be herself, and he wouldn't give a damn.

She opened her eyes suddenly. What would Ichigo do if she crawled into his bed? It was warmer than on the floor, and besides, it was a double anyway. And, Ichigo was Ichigo, she couldn't imagine him doing anything bad. Well, she couldn't get to sleep on the mattress she was currently on, that was for sure.

She did just that. She lay on the pillow, smiling to herself. Ichigo was on the other side of the bed, this bed was warmer, and he didn't even know she was there. She would just go back to her bed in the morning, before he awoke, she thought.

She closed her eyes, almost falling asleep, when she felt the blankets shift slightly. She opened one eyelid, and saw that Ichigo had rolled over and was lying directly in front of her. For one who liked making grunting noises as his main form of communication, his breathing when sleeping was quite soft. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch his forehead, where his scowl was. Except now, she thought – it wouldn't be there when he was sleeping. It would be like when he was a kid. That last thought was also the last straw, and she gently put her finger on his forehead, just to remember what it was like before Ichigo scowled. When he smiled.

She gasped quietly when he grabbed her wrist.

"Rukia?" she heard him say softly in the darkness.

She didn't reply at first. "Mm…"

"What…what are…"

"I was cold," she said, making up a lame excuse. Even though, it was partially true.

"Oh." His voice sounded unusually quiet, Rukia noticed. Much like the Ichigo she knew. He let go of her wrist.

"Sorry. I'll move back down," she said.

"No. Don't worry," he muttered wanly, obviously tired.

"But –"

She felt him close his eyes.

"Just go to sleep."

She didn't have anything to say to that. She tried to close her eyes, but found that it was awkward trying to avoid Ichigo while sleeping.

"Ichigo," she whispered.

"Mm…" he mumbled sleepily.

"Give me your hand."

Ichigo still hadn't opened his eyes. He lazily lifted his hand up to his face, where Rukia took it.

"Thanks."

"Mm…" he mumbled wanly, still not opening his eyes. Though, after about two seconds his eyes shot open.

"Rukia, what…"

Rukia had placed his arm around her, and she snuggled into him, now properly attempting to go to sleep. Now she wouldn't have to worry about accidentally touching him or anything like that. That was what she told her head, but her heart had something different to say about the matter.

_Way to make it obvious that you like him._

_I do not like him. At least in that way._

_Don't lie. You like his arm around you._

Rukia sighed into Ichigo's chest. It was true. She actually did enjoy Ichigo's hold. It made her feel secure, something she needed to feel, and hadn't, in a very long time. Bu, this was just a friend thing, right? Friends did this, she told herself shutting out her conscious.

Ichigo stayed silent for a few seconds, mostly because he was trying to fight the intoxication of her scented shampoo. He failed miserably. She was making him crazy. Experimenting, he tightened his hold on her body to see her reaction. She snuggled deeper into him.

"Rukia?"

No answer.

It seemed like he wouldn't be getting any explanation for her behaviour, so he just let it be, and held her. Well, if she wasn't going to give him any explanation for her behaviour, then he would do something…He pulled back an inch or two and then gently leant down and kissed her forehead. He felt her murmur something quietly, and he was glad that she didn't react badly to it, but that was probably because she was sleepy. He kissed her forehead again, but slightly lower this time, finding it addictive. Before he could stop himself, he leant down lower, and kissed her nose. It was honestly her shampoo scent. When she still hadn't reacted, aside from a few soft noises, he took that as a good sign.

Finally, he pecked her lightly on her upper lip, almost immediately pulling away. What the hell was he doing?

This time, she opened her eyes, and even though he couldn't see her properly, he could feel her eyes burning questions in the dark. He sighed and closed his eyes before he got too carried away. He didn't want to ruin the friendship they had just put back together. He started to pull away, but Rukia's arms reached out to grab him.

"Ichigo…"

This time, it was Ichigo who didn't say anything.

"Stay with me…please."

Something in her voice struck a tender note in his heart. If this was what she wanted…He placed his chin neatly on top of her head, pulling himself closer to her in the process. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come. It was fairly easy, being in the comfortable position that he was, but he heard that annoying voice again, before he drifted off into dreamland.

_Do something!_

_Shut-up. I'm going to sleep._

_Loser. She wants you to do something._

_How do you know? We're…we're just friends, that's all._

_Haha. What kind of friends holds each other in the same bed? Loooooverrss…_

_

* * *

_

**AN: **Cool. Another chapter finished, and Ichigo and Rukia are closer. That is my aim. In life, basically. Hehe. Drop in a review if you liked it. If you didn't like it then review me and tell me why. I'll fix it up if I can. Thanks!


	12. Courting Memories Part V

**AN: **Hello, people. Been a while since I've updated this story. I know, so lazy. And I really don't have much excuse, especially since you guys have been so faithful in your reviews. Oh well, nothing much to say, except I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

- - -

**Return to no Home: Courting Memories (Part V)**

**- - -**

"What?"

"Nope, I'm not telling you," said 7-year-old Ichigo. His arms were crossed, and his head was turned away from the girl sitting in front of him.

"But…but you promised!" she retorted angrily.

"No I didn't."

"You did so! You just did a few seconds ago!" Rukia exclaimed, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"I forgot."

"But…but I told you my deepest secret! And you promised that you would tell me yours."

"I can't remember," Ichigo replied, placing his hands behind his head, avoiding her gaze.

"You…liar!" Rukia yelled, sticking out her tongue, tasting salt.

"I said I forgot," Ichigo replied angrily. Not because he was annoyed that she didn't believe him, but because – if this went any further, he would probably end up telling her.

"I hate you."

Those words dug deep into his heart. It wasn't as if it was anything serious, or anything. He had 'forgotten' about his promise a few minutes earlier – that was all.

But as the door slammed shut, he knew he had done something wrong. Even though his mum was home, the house felt…hollow.

- - -

Rukia woke up faster than usual that morning. At first, she wondered why the bed she slept in felt slightly different. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, still in the half sleep daze. Ichigo…

Her eyes snapped open, but she let herself lie back down in the bed. That's right, she thought. She had slept over at his place last night. Closing her eyes, she recounted the events that had happened. Ichigo had let her sleep over, they had watched a movie, then went to sleep in the same bed.

She smiled wryly when she thought about what she had done. She had felt so secure in his arms, though Ichigo had been quite…_affectionate _that night. It must have been the darkness. It was partly her fault as well, she thought guiltily. Her thoughts turned to Renji. She…she didn't know what she was to him – had they broken up? Did she want them to break up, was the question. Rukia opened her eyes and shifted to where Ichigo was, only to find that he wasn't there.

She got out of his bed slowly, relishing in the warmth that it gave her. After using the bathroom, she listened carefully. There wasn't much sounds in his house, aside from the regular morning chirping from the birds. Where was he? She felt an old fear rising in her throat, but she quenched it, convincing herself that Ichigo was simply around his house somewhere – why would he leave? More importantly, why would he leave her?

She made her way downstairs, almost sighing in relief when she heard sounds of movement in the kitchen.

She peeked around the corner, trying to see what he was doing, before actually revealing that she was there. Fortunately, his back was towards her, facing the stove, cooking something that smelled quite nice (funnily enough).

"Ichigo," she said softly, not wanting to scare him.

"What?" he called back, not bothering t turn around.

"Good morning!" Rukia said, a little too cheerfully.

Ichigo mumbled something, then went back to his cooking.

_WHAP!_

"I said, good morning!"

"Ow, ow! Ok, good morning!"

Rukia ignored any other comments that he was making under his breath, and leaned on the bench next to him. "Why are you so cranky?" she asked, forming her lips in a pout.

Ichigo turned away from her, exhaling. He had woken up that morning with his arm wrapped tightly around her. He had to stop himself from jumping out of the bed. When his memory had returned enough to provide him with the information that told him all that had happened last night, he had reluctantly extracted himself from her, and walked down the stairs rubbing his forehead. Pancakes would do him good. Anyway, it wasn't like he could cook anything else.

"Oh, are these pancakes for me?" Rukia asked, pointing to a neat stack beside Ichigo.

"Mm," Ichigo replied, while flipping another pancake.

- - -

For the rest of that day, nothing felt _right_. Sure, they talked, laughed a bit, insulted each other a fair bit, but there was always an underlying feeling of unease. It wasn't that Ichigo was uncomfortable in her company, it just was, that every time she talked, his eyes were immediately dragged to her lips. Her lips would trigger the bad (or good) memory of the night before – he had basically kissed her. None of them had made any mention of that fact, though it was burning holes in their minds. Especially Ichigo's. She was acting…_normally, _he supposed, but he could almost see the cogs turning in her brain – what the hell had come over him last night?

Rukia had the majority of her thoughts on the night before as well – who would have thought that below Ichigo's seemingly cold exterior, there was something akin to affection. It scared her slightly, because it reminded her of the old him, caring and smiling for others. But this time, there was a romantic twist – what the boy Ichigo didn't have. _And never would have_, she thought bitterly, remembering that event that had happened not so long ago – but she was willing to place it far into the recesses of her mind, along with all the other hurts that lay there.

But Rukia had only thought about such things for a while; she just made a mental note to deal with it later.

Ichigo on the other hand, wanted to deal with the issue _now, _but whenever he tried to bring it up, he found that he couldn't. It would just be too awkward – suddenly blurting out something like, 'Oh by the way, what I did last night? Yeah, the kiss? Well, the kiss I gave you? I'm sorry about that.' That would just sound odd, and way to corny. Not to mention that he would've lied. He wasn't sorry at all for kissing her. He was sorry if it had a bad effect on her, but he enjoyed it, even for that little moment. Ichigo would just not admit that to himself.

They were sitting on the couch, just talking the day away. Talking on the outside, but thinking deeply on the inside. Their conversation largely consisted of the words 'yeah', 'uh-huh', and 'ok'. Under normal circumstances, Ichigo would have gotten extremely bored by now, and probably would have told anyone else to leave. Strangely enough, he didn't feel ignored, or bored, it was more of the comfortable semi-silence that sometimes falls between two friends.

_Friends._

Is that really all they were? Ichigo glanced at the clock on the wall. _5:00 PM_. Maybe that was all they were. Friends. Just a bit closer than normal friends. The thought saddened him a little, though he didn't know why.

"Hey, Ichigo."

"What?" he answered, turning to look at her. She was curled up on the other end of the couch, hugging her knees. He had situated himself on the opposite end, to avoid a replay of the night before. That would probably lead to some rather awkward situations.

"You still haven't told me what happened to your mum."

It was a statement, not a question, but something inside Ichigo snapped. It wasn't as if she had been pestering him to the point of annoyance, but he still found the concept of his mother's death hard to grasp. Because of that he answered harshly, too harshly. "I don't want to talk about it." He turned away from her. "At all," he added for emphasis.

"Ichigo…why not?" she said, in a soft tone, not intending to anger him further. It wasn't that Rukia was nosy – well in these matters she wasn't anyway, but Ichigo's mother had been an important person in her life – those four years they were around in the neighbourhood. She felt that she had the right to know. In addition to that, she worried about Ichigo. He wasn't the type to just store up feelings inside of himself, and she worried about what could happen.

"Just…no."

"Ichi-"

"Piss off, Rukia," he growled out lowly. He didn't like the way that Rukia reminded him of all the hurts that he had experienced. He didn't want to remember them at all – he thought he had already tied down the death of his mother, and concealed it. But Rukia…she dug it all up. She _reminded _him of what actually happened – reminded him of the best days of his life – that now, he didn't have. Those days, when his mum used to play with him and Rukia, those days…he just wanted to forget. If he forgot those days, then the pain of his mother dying wouldn't be so magnified.

"No."

"Yes."

"No. I need to know."

This time Ichigo turned and looked at her, glaring at her. "Why the hell do you need to know? She was _my _mum."

"No…" Rukia's voice shook with emotion. "She…at that time, she was my mum as well."

Ichigo had nothing to say to that, so Rukia continued, now standing up. "You know what? I know it's hard on you, because you loved your mum so much, but remember there are other people out there that loved your mum as well." She angrily brushed away a tear that was making its way down her face.

"So?" Ichigo replied coldly.

She shook her finger at him. "It affects you, but those people that care for your mum…they care for you as well. But fine, I won't ask you again. You just keep it inside of you. All I wanted to do was _help _you."

"You think _you _can help me?" He laughed harshly. "Can you bring her back?" he said, his voice rising. All the pent up emotions he had been feeling ever since his mum passed away, now rose to the surface.

"No. I can't bring her back. But I – Forget it. All I was doing was trying to worry about you, and worry about those important to you. But…you're just being a selfish bastard. Keep it all to yourself. See if _I care_." She took a step back. "You've changed, Ichigo," she said, her tears now falling freely down her face. "I – you used to tell me everything."

"No, Rukia," Ichigo replied, his voice cold. "_You _were the one who told me everything. I told you _nothing_."

Rukia opened her mouth to make another retort, but she closed it, thinking again. "You're right," she said, her voice suddenly steady. "You never did tell me _anything_. You didn't _even_ tell me about leaving." She turned around slowly, and headed towards the front door.

"**I hate you."**

The door slammed shut.

Ichigo knuckled his forehead. "Fuck," he swore softly. For the second time in his life, _this _house felt incredibly big and empty. Hollow.

- - -

"Ichigo, come _here_."

Sullenly, yet obedient to his mother's request, he came forward, refusing to meet her gaze. "What?"

"Don't _what _me, young man," his mother replied, placing her hands on her hips. "Tell me exactly why Rukia just ran out of the house crying?"

There was a silence. Ichigo let out a breath. When his mum used _that _tone of voice, all efforts of resistance were futile.

"Well…" he said, standing on one foot, and then the other. "Me and Rukia…"

"Yes?" his mum reminded him to get to the point.

"Well, we decided to tell each other our most important secret. And then…well…she told me hers, but…" he trailed off, obviously not wanting to explain any further.

"You didn't tell her yours?" his mother finished for him.

"Um…yes…"

"That's not all, is it?"

"We…made a promise."

His mother sighed. "There is a flower on the bench. Give it to Rukia and apologise."

His mother sighed once again, as Ichigo left the room. Children's hearts could be broken easily, yet they were so complicated. It probably didn't get any better as one got older, she thought. That flower Isshin had given her was because of a small argument they had had earlier that day. But at least, these things could be fixed. Children's hearts could mend easily as well.

- - -

Ichigo didn't meet her eyes. He didn't want to see that she had been crying – it was because of him, after all. Instead, he whipped out the rose from behind his back, and threw it towards her.

"You left this at my place," he said, trying to sound bored.

"O-oh…" Rukia said, stunned. This beautiful flower wasn't hers, but even at the young age of seven, she could understand what he was trying to say.

"Sorry about before. I just didn't want to tell you what my secret was," Ichigo said, still looking down at his feet. "Ah," he continued hurriedly, suddenly feeling quite awkward and hot around the collar, "I'll tell you what it is now. I promise not to make you cry again."

- - -

"_I hate you."_

_Those words dug deep into his heart. It wasn't as if it was anything serious, or anything. He had 'forgotten' about his promise a few minutes earlier – that was all._

A magnification of the past. At that time, he had been hurt when she had told him that, but children's hearts could mend easily, and their fight – their only fight – was soon forgiven and forgotten. This time, however, it seemed as though the feeling of hurt had been blown up to much greater proportions. It was a lot more serious now.

"_We…made a promise."_

It wasn't as if he made a promise with her to tell her about his mother's circumstances. Though, he dimly remembered telling her that he would tell her sometime – later. He had forgotten that one of the reasons that Rukia wanted to know about his mum was because she had acted as a mum towards her. He had forgotten that Rukia would have probably felt the same pain he had, when he had told her that his mother had passed away. Not only that, but it would be the second time around that she would have felt hurt – the first time – her real mother, but the second time would have been much more painful. Ichigo's mother was the only older woman-figure in her life, which would have made the experience doubly painful.

Ichigo cursed, his mood matching the fast approaching darkness.

_His mother sighed. "There is a flower on the bench. Give it to Rukia and apologise."_

Ichigo stood up, and walked to the kitchen bench. This time there was no rose there. He glanced at the clock on the wall. _6:03 PM. _There was probably enough time for him to find a shop that was still open. He walked up the stairs to grab his wallet, hating himself more at every step.

- - -

Rukia suddenly studied the rose. She was blushing, and she did not want to meet her friend's eye. In addition to that, she couldn't think of _anything _to say. She now half-understood why he had been so reluctant about sharing his deepest secret. She couldn't believe…

"Ok, well that's it. Bye," Ichigo said hurriedly, and practically ran down her driveway. It would be quite awkward between the two seven-year-olds tomorrow.

- - -

Rukia slammed the door shut. She had tried to seek comfort in her house, but found that it was near impossible. It was too lonely, and she really wanted to be with Ichigo…but that _bastard _had to be so…agitating! Couldn't he see that she cared about him?

She had rung Matsumoto, and her strawberry blonde friend had quickly agreed for her to come over.

Matsumoto understood that her friend had lived a tough life, and she tried to be available as best she could. It was only about 15 minutes between their houses. Matsumoto had suggested that they meet at the park – as they usually did, whenever they wanted to talk, but Rukia had said that she would come over.

- - -

_Ding-dong…_

It was obvious that Rukia wasn't in her house, but Ichigo just kept pressing the doorbell. He didn't want to believe that she wasn't there – all the anger he had directed onto himself had now turned to worry – if she wasn't at her house, where was she? It was already dark, and even though they did live in a small suburb, it wasn't exactly safe for a teenage girl to roam freely around at night.

Ichigo cursed silently, and turned away from the door, still holding the rose. He tried not to hurry down their drive way. Where could she be?

He walked the streets aimlessly, forgetting that he didn't know his way around yet. He had been walking around for about ten minutes, when he heard something that sounded like _running _down a deserted alleyway.

Clenching his fist tighter around the single rose that he had bought, he ran in the directions of the sounds, his heart pounding in his chest.

- - -

Rukia was cornered.

She pushed her back further against the wall. Her two pursuers had slowed down, with sly grins on their faces. Her breathing was laboured; she was tired. She knew she shouldn't have taken the back way to Matsumoto's place. She hadn't been thinking properly – all she knew was that she needed comfort. She took a deep breath, and readied herself in a fighting stance. She wasn't any good at self-defence, but before these thugs could have their way with her, she would fight them with every tooth in her head.

As the thug's hand reached out, Rukia prepared herself.

_POCK!_

Rukia heard every single bounce the pebble made and echoed in the alleyway. The man turned around, annoyed. "What the fu –"

His sentence never got finished, for a fist came smashing into the side of his face.

Rukia heard the bone crack echo, as the man fell to the ground seemingly unconscious. The other man looked down at his friend in shock.

"Show yourself," he said, taking out a knife from his back pocket.

Meanwhile, Rukia wondered who could have gone after her. It could not be Ichigo, she thought, for that arrogant bastard was probably still at home, moping for himself. But no one else knew that she was going out, except for Matsumoto, and she highly doubted that Matsumoto's punch could knock out thugs such as these. Besides, the shadow did not look like a girl.

The knife man lunged forward, knife extended. The figure didn't move. She heard the knife sink into flesh, but in the next instant, the knife man was flung backwards, and smashed into the wall beside her. His body slumped forward, making a sickening thud on the concrete.

Rukia held her breath as the figure emerged from the shadows. It could be that something more dangerous than just two thugs had appeared. Like the old saying, out of the frying pan, and into the fire.

To her utter surprise, Ichigo stood there, blood dripping from his left hand.

"Ichigo!" she temporarily forgot about their earlier fight and rushed towards him. This meant that Ichigo had been stabbed, for she had clearly heard the knife strike flesh. "Where did…"

"_You left this at my place," he said, trying to sound bored._

"Stop," she heard him say, his voice cold. "You forgot this at my place." He raised his left hand, to reveal the knife that was still embedded there. Blood was rolling down his arms, but he looked unaffected. "Though, that guy sorta cut it in half," he added.

The knife had struck the rose stem, but it wasn't an adequate shield. The knife had gone straight through Ichigo's hand, but he had held on to the flower. Rukia swallowed. It must be extremely painful for him to grip onto something with a knife stuck in his hand.

"You idiot," she said softly, tears coming to her eyes. She didn't usually cry easily, but she had been afraid, and Ichigo's wounds looked serious.

He scowled at her. "Well, what are you waiting for? Take it."

"You idiot," she repeated. "Let me fix up your hand first," she said, wiping the tears away from her eyes so she could see more clearly. "Sit down," she said softly, tip-toeing to press down on his shoulders.

He complied, and they sat against the cement wall.

"This is going to hurt," she warned, as she gripped the handle of the knife.

She closed her eyes as she jerked it out, wincing as she heard the blood splash freely onto his and her clothes. When she looked up, she was surprised to see Ichigo not looking at his hand, but rather, at her.

"_Sorry about before. I just didn't want to tell you what my secret was," Ichigo said, still looking down at his feet. "Ah," he continued hurriedly, suddenly feeling quite awkward and hot around the collar, "I'll tell you what it is now. I promise not to make you cry again."_

"Sorry about before. I'll tell you about my mum soon," he said seriously. "I…"

Rukia nodded, cutting him off. "Do you have a hanky or something?" she asked quietly.

He gave it to her, without saying anymore. When she had tied it on his hand tightly, she stood up, and extended her hand down to him.

"Hey, remember this," Ichigo said, using his right hand to pick up the rose beside him. Rukia smiled softly.

"Thanks," she said, as she took it from him, but she still extended her hand to him to help him up.

He took it, and with some difficulty, she got him standing, but she didn't let go of his right hand. They stood there, in front of one another. "You idiot," she repeated. He hadn't let go either.

- - -

**AN: **Ah, I was planning on cutting some of the end bit out, for another chapter, but nah, I think I've handed out enough cliffhangers (for now anyway). Plus, I hate it how writers leave Rukia and Ichigo in the middle of a fight, at the end of the chapter. At least this one had some resolve. Well, since you're all feeling happy/content, go review, tell me what you think. I depend on you guys, remember? Hope this was satisfying enough. The more reviews, the faster I update. Cya!


	13. Making Memories Part I

**AN: **Oh right, sorry that I'm late – it was inevitable. Actually that was a straight out lie, sorry. I really should have written this one up fast, since the last chapter got a massive review count of 48! Man, that almost made me cry. I love you guys! (you all want to move on to my other fics and do the same? Hahahaha)

Now, I don't usually do this, but here are two replies to some unsigned people.

Jessica: Oh, you haven't read that in another story? Hehe, I sorta…um…got it off another story. Not the storyline, but the idea. Hehehe…I'm glad you read mine first.

Summersnoboardr: Hey, I'm glad you read my fic as your first Bleach fic…there are some way more awesome Bleach fics out there though! Just check out my favourites!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach.

- - -

**Return to no Home: Making Memories (Part I)**

- - -

Matsumoto sat lazily in the classroom, her legs crossed, examining her nails.

"So…Rukia," Matsumoto said slyly to her friend in front of her. The shorter girl immediately looked away, her face darkening.

"W-What?" she replied, trying to sound cross.

"Don't 'what' me, girl." The strawberry blonde winked at her friend. "So what happened?" she asked mischieviously.

Rukia tried to sigh, as if in exasperation, but that just encouraged her friend. In one-and-a-half seconds she was sitting in front of Rukia's desk, with that knowing look on her face.

This time, Rukia really did sigh. Matsumoto had been like this ever since…well, puberty hit, she guessed. Always interested in the latest gossip, latest relationships, and what-not. The problem was, seniors weren't interested in lower grade relationships, as they viewed themselves as more mature. Well actually, that wasn't the problem. The real problem lay in the fact that their grade had zero activity when it came to relationships. The only thing that was happening was the 'steady' relationships, relationships that had already been well defined since junior school.

Boring, in other words.

Now, with Matsumoto _knowing _that she was supposed to go to her house that night, but suddenly not going – the girl knew something was up. And most likely, it had something to do with Ichigo.

She was going to find out.

"I'll tell you later," Rukia hissed, because the teacher had just come in.

Matsumoto rolled her eyes, returning to her desk.

As the morning lesson started, Rukia became acutely aware of something, which was remarkable because students usually weren't acutely aware of anything on a Monday morning.

But, she noticed that Ichigo wasn't there. She tried to not let it bother her, as she needed to concentrate on her schoolwork. Plus, she still had a reputation to live up to – her grades weren't exactly low.

But, Ichigo…did he not come to school because of what had happened last night? No way. He wasn't that childish, even if it would be quite awkward between the two.

She couldn't help but think back to that night.

- - -

They had walked back without speaking, hand in hand. Back at his house, Ichigo had replaced his bandages with clean ones from a first aid kit he had found, rummaging through some boxes.

All this time she watched him silently. She realized that she had been too pushy, too rash, too much action on her immediate feelings.

"Hey. Are you hungry?" she heard him say.

She was. But she didn't say anything. How could he think about her well-being when he was in the state that he was in.

"Here, I have um…" she heard him rummaging through the pantry.

"Ichigo," she called, and the rummaging sounds stopped. Ichigo came, hearing something in her voice.

"What is it?"

She was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, blocking off any means of escape. She took his wrist gently, the bandaged one, and held it up to her face. She looked down.

"About this…sorry."

Silence.

And then he leaned down, and kissed her.

- - -

"Rukia, would you mind telling the rest of the class what you were dreaming about, since you have been blushing ever since Keigo entered the room?"

What? Oh, crap.

- - -

The students' saviour, in the form of lunchtime, took its time in coming, but it finally did, and Ichigo fell into step beside Rukia as they walked out to their usual lunch place. He had come to class before Keigo, and saw Rukia with that dreamlike look on her face. Which was probably why he didn't get any look of recognition from her. He had watched her, day dreaming, and then turning red, coincidentally when a boy from their class had walked in. He wasn't sure he liked it.

After a few moments of silence, Ichigo couldn't resist.

"Blushing?"

Which of course lead to hysterics from the group secretly following the couple, namely, Matsumoto, Hitsugaya, Hinamori, Ikkaku, and Yumichika.

"Sh-shutup!" An embarrassed Rukia stalked off ahead of all of them, which quieted them down a bit, but as soon as she rounded the corner, the laughing started again, Ichigo included.

When they reached the table where they usually ate, Rukia was already there, sitting on the edge. The group immediately took their usual seats, and Rukia tried not to seem disappointed when Ichigo sat on the other side.

"Disappointed?"

Sometimes, Matsumoto knew her _too _well. The girl grinned devilishly. "So," she said in a loud voice so that everyone at the table could hear. "Why _were _you blushing?" It stopped all the general chatter, and all eyes were directed at her, including _his_.

Rukia looked down, blushing furiously. "Nothing. It was nothing," she said as normally as she could, even though she knew full well that it wouldn't stop her friends.

"Nothing?" asked Matsumoto in that sly voice.

Rukia blushed a deeper red when she saw Ichigo was staring at her intently. Why the hell did he want to know? Besides, it was partly his fault – he had brought up the damn subject, even though secretly she knew that even without him saying anything, her friends would have definitely brought it up, considering how embarrassing it had been in the classroom. It was all a matter of time.

But still, it was partly his fault. After all it was he who had kissed her, though she would be lying to herself if she said that she didn't like it.

"Well?"

Mustering her most angriest stare at Ichigo, she stood up and walked away from the table.

Ichigo watched her leave, surprised. Why did her stare tell him that it was _his _fault? Then he became aware of everyone else staring at him, as if expecting him to go after her.

So _he _had to take responsibility for their actions, though he knew it was their fault. He sighed as he stood up.

- - -

Rukia's anger quickly dissipated after she had wandered aimlessly in the empty hallways for a few minutes. What was wrong with her? She usually didn't act like that, all girly, and blushing. She usually was the cool one, the one who hid behind a stoic mask.

But now…damn that Ichigo. Making that stupid comment.

She felt someone grab her wrist, and she stopped walking.

"What?" she said flatly.

"Slow down a bit."

Ichigo. Secretly, she was glad that he had the common sense to follow her. But first, she would make him suffer.

"What do _you _want? Going to make fun of me some more?" she replied coldly after shaking off his hand, and turning around to face him.

"Rukia, I said _one _word."

"It was the wrong word. Apologize," she demanded, crossing her arms in front of her.

Ichigo sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, something that Rukia found strangely endearing.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. Happy?"

He didn't sound sorry at all. Since when did he become such good friends with her group?

"Nope. Not happy." She took one step forward, and Ichigo instinctively placed one foot behind him, just out of kicking (or punching) range.

"I'm…_really _sorry," he ground out.

Rukia smiled inwardly. She didn't think she had this much power over him. Well, it would probably be a good time to stop, she thought, since it wasn't _all _his fault. She just liked to blame it on him.

"Don't do it again," she warned, which left her with nothing else to say, and an empty hallway with just the two of them. If she didn't stop thinking weird thoughts like this, she would start blushing again.

Ichigo didn't seem to notice, but instead grabbed her hand again, which reminded her of the stab wound he took the other night. She immediately felt guilty.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, a bit more softer than she intended it to be.

Ichigo didn't answer, but lead her inside an empty classroom. He sat her down at a desk, and then pulled a chair up so that he was sitting opposite her.

"So, tell me," he said, his voice strangely serious.

"Tell you what?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.

"What you were dreaming about in class," came the reply.

She looked away, but she knew she would have to answer him eventually. "I…I was thinking about last night."

Now it was Ichigo's turn to be embarrassed. He hadn't really thought that she would be thinking about _that_, since his over-jealous mind had been thinking murderous thoughts to that guy, Keigo.

But now, when he looked at the situation properly, Keigo was a stupid clown, the most of the class ignored. It wouldn't make sense if Rukia liked him.

"Oh," was all he could say initially. Then an awkward laugh. "I…uh…thought about that a lot, too."

There was that motion again; his arm reaching up to run his hand through his orange hair. The windows were slightly open, and outside, sounds of the playground drifted up to the classroom, their sounds strangely dimmed.

She swallowed, as she saw him move forward slightly over the desk. His grip on her hand tightened as she felt her own self move forward.

This could get out of hand, was her last thought, before meeting his lips.

It didn't get out of hand. The bell rang, signifying the halfway mark of lunch and they jumped apart, both looking a mixture between self-consciousness and guilt.

"Ah…" was Rukia's first word afterwards. It was almost as awkward as their kiss in Ichigo's home. At that time, she had an excuse to go home – her brother would be coming back soon. That had relieved the tension, but now, there was only the two of them in the classroom.

Somehow, she felt guilty. Guilty because she and Renji used to kiss like this – an empty classroom at lunchtime. But with Ichigo, she couldn't help herself, and although she hadn't initiated any of the kisses they had shared so far she felt like she wanted more.

She must have been showing this indecision in her face, because Ichigo had leaned back, though he hadn't let go of her hand. She was disappointed, though somewhat glad at the same time.

With Renji, she needed love; that much was natural. That was why they kissed sometimes, as she was lonely. But with Ichigo, she felt it was dangerous – almost as if she would drown, if she let herself go. It would be quite obvious to him that she liked him – she wasn't the type to just kiss boys without any meaning at all. But there was something she needed to do first. Hopefully he understood that.

"Hey, do you want to go back now?" she heard him say. She nodded, and they stood up together, still holding hands.

At the classroom door, she hesitated. Ichigo stopped, and looked back questioningly at her.

"I…I don't think we should kiss…" she said with difficulty. Not that his kisses felt wrong, but what felt wrong was that she never really had broken up with Renji.

"Yeah," came his reply. "Sorry."

"No...don't be…it's just that…"

"Your boyfriend, right?"

Judging from the way she suddenly became silent, he had guessed rightly.

Finally she spoke. "I…I just don't want to have this weird feeling, I mean, he did leave me…" she trailed off.

Ichigo nodded. "It's a bit early…anyway."

Her pulse quickened. "But I like…" You, she was about to say, but Ichigo had silenced her with a finger to her lips.

"Yeah. I can wait."

- - -

She felt happy, as she entered her house that day. That was unusual, because usually when she entered her house, she felt a sense of loneliness over take her. But all in all, she had had a pretty good day.

Even with her conversation with Ichigo, she felt happy that he understood, and she had resolved things (for now) with him, and her mind. While they were walking home she had promised Ichigo that she would come over sometime this afternoon so that he could reintroduce her to the family. Nii-sama wouldn't be back till late, so she was happy to accept his invitation. She had suggested to him that they should go over some homework together, and he had agreed. She was interested in seeing just how smart he was.

Though…she thought to herself, she would have to make sure they wouldn't be in any compromising situations as she didn't know how good her self-control was.

The phone rang, and she quickly made her way over to the bench.

"Hello, this is the Kuchiki residence."

Her bag dropped to the floor as she listened to the voice on the other line.

"_Hey. It's me, Renji."_

- - -

**AN: **Dum dum dum…Hm, hope it doesn't take me long to get to the next chapter. That would suck, especially since this is a cliffhanger. Anyway, I know most of you won't like how I temporarily resolved the Ichigo-Rukia relationship, but just wait, just wait. It's not over yet! I just couldn't see Rukia kissing Ichigo with a clear conscience, even if her boyfriend had acted like a jerk. Come on, it _is _Rukia.


	14. Making Memories Part II

**AN: **Hey all. Thanks for waiting for this chapter. This is kind of a boring chapter. But all I have to say, is THANK-YOU for your reviews! I love them!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

- - -

**Return to no Home: Making Memories (Part II)**

**- - -**

Ichigo didn't know what was wrong. It was something, he was sure of that, but he just couldn't place his finger on it. He sat on his bed, looking outside the window. To _her _window, but the blinds were shut this time. He couldn't help but wonder what was inside that room.

Of course, he had known Rukia from when she was a little kid, and they were 'friends' now, but he still didn't truly know her. What was she thinking? What was she thinking when they were apart? Did she think about him?

He shook his head. Of course she didn't think about him when they were apart. Well, think of him in _that _way, anyhow. Besides, their relationship right now was just friends. Or something along those lines.

He snorted. Yeah, right. There was no way they were just friends, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself. It was more like a delicate equilibrium between 'close friends', 'best friends' and 'partners'.

Something he probably didn't want. He wanted a definite stage. But of course, if life was that easy, there wouldn't be as much suicides and attempted suicides in the world these days.

But just how long would he have to wait? A day? A month? A year? He groaned. He didn't want to wait a year. And, even though he didn't know the details, it was all because of 'some' guy. Some stupid idiot who went to America because of a…what was it? A job offer?

Ichigo could feel himself burning up. Leaving Rukia for a job offer, but not breaking it totally off with her. It was like torturing someone to the brink of death, but not actually killing them.

What was that bastard's name again? Renji. That was it. There was something about that name that tugged on the back of his mind, but he ignored it. Damn him, whoever he was.

- - -

Byakuya sat in his office, sipping his tea. The day had gone by so quickly, and he knew he should be getting along soon. Well, at least the day had been relatively quiet, unlike some other days. And he hadn't been called out either.

Not like it was a normality being called out; most of the time people like him stayed behind the front lines. In fact, he hadn't been involved in a real gunfight for quite sometime. He left that to the ground forces.

However, that didn't mean he didn't have any skill. He could definitely hold his own, if need be. After all, he was previously a team commander, but had requested to move his position, because of Rukia.

Well, it was ok, since they moved him to a higher position, even if it was a desk job. He put down his cup carefully, and picked up the piece of paper on his desk. On the top was the company name.

_Japan Special Forces_

- - -

Ichigo paced his bedroom. Rukia would be coming over soon, and for some unexplainable reason, he felt nervous. If it was like before, he wouldn't be nervous, just that nice, friendly, sometimes awkward atmosphere he had come to like.

Now, with that rather…impacting conversation they had had earlier that day, his perspective on Rukia changed. He still felt something towards her, but instead of having the feeling dim like it should have due to their conversation earlier, it had grown.

His feeling changed from a simple love to...well, he didn't know exactly _what_, but it was now somehow deeper. Deeper because his respect for the girl had grown. Oh, he had respected her before, because she seemed nice, and from what he could tell, smart. Now he could add something else to that list of attributes. She was faithful.

Even if he didn't _want _her to be faithful in this situation, she still was, and he respected that. A girl like that, he thought, was what he wanted. Someone who would stay by his side, even if he didn't stay by hers.

Even though there was no way in the world that he would ever leave her side.

He stopped pacing as he heard the phone ring.

"Hello?"

"_Hey Ichigo, It's Rukia. I can't make it tonight because…I have a stomach ache…I guess I'll just have to come some other time."_

"Uh…yeah, yeah, that's fine…"

"_Ok. I'll see you at school."_

_Click._

He didn't hang up straight away. Instead, he listened to the beep of the phone, as if he could glean something more from the tuneless pulse.

Something was wrong, was his initial thought. But he pushed that away. It was just a stomach ache. That was normal, right? Right?

He felt a sharp pain in his hand. Damn. His wound was bleeding again. The wound had been the cause of his lateness that morning. His dad had seen it and Ichigo was surprised he hadn't wakened the whole neighbourhood with his screaming and yelling and carrying on.

Ichigo hadn't planned on telling his dad the full story, but in as a last resort he blurted out the words that he knew would calm his dad down.

"I was trying to save a girl," he said blandly.

That did quiet his dad down, though it did have its disadvantages. His dad then started shooting questions at him about who the girl was, where did she come from, why did he save her, and most importantly, did she kiss him because he saved her?

All of which Ichigo ignored. Yuzu and Karin had come down shortly after; Karin kicking her dad in the head for making so much noise so early in the morning.

It stopped him asking all the questions, but, he had insisted that he treat Ichigo's wound properly. It needed stitches, and it took a while (Ichigo thought that his dad made it especially longer so that he could sneak in questions about the girl).

Finally Ichigo said that he would invite her over that night.

Except of course, she wasn't coming _now_. He groaned. He would have to tell his dad. He would be disappointed.

Probably not as disappointed as Ichigo.

­- - -

Rukia lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She felt bad, lying to Ichigo. One, it didn't feel right because she was skipping out on his invitation, and two, it was a lie. Even though now…she could feel that 'stomach ache' coming on.

Renji had rang earlier. It was just a quick call, just to say 'hi'. She would have got mad at him if he wasn't calling from such a long distance. Apparently he had got the job, and was prospering.

He missed her, he said. She nearly cried when he said that. She did cry when he told her something else, though.

Even now, she felt tears springing to her eyes.

Just what the hell was she supposed to do now? Go to school, she supposed. Get on with life? It was rather hard to just get on with life. And what about Ichigo? What about him…

- - -

Byakuya cracked open the door to his little sister's bedroom ever so slightly. Her breathing was even, so he assumed that she was asleep. It wasn't anything unusual, her being asleep, but it was a bit early. Well, no matter, perhaps she was tired because something had happened at school.

Sometimes, well, most of the time he worried about his little sister. Being an older brother, he could hardly provide the loving care that a mother and a father give, but at least he could try. To support them both they had the family funds, which was a rather large sum, but Byakuya knew that he couldn't just rely on the family finances to get them through life. Even though it was a large amount, it would eventually run out.

Rukia didn't know, but their father had been involved in Japanese Special Forces from before they were born. He had quit, a few years before he had met their mother. They had been killed in a tragic car accident, leaving Byakuya and Rukia to fend for themselves. Which they did quite well, actually.

The initial shock eventually wore off, and Byakuya concentrated on his studies, and finished them that same year. It wasn't as good as he had expected (his end result was only third in the country) but he blamed it on his parents death.

He applied for several different jobs, and was accepted into all of them, but each of them didn't give him the satisfaction he wanted.

So then, he did some research into his father's previous job, and entered into his line of work. It was quite easy, easier than he expected. He had just marched in and said his name, and was sent straight to the director of the organization. They had secured him a position, and his skills became well known.

He was quickly promoted to team leader. Where he met her. She was a lovely girl. And deadly.

He made his way up to his room, changing quickly.

"Hisana," he murmured sleepily, before drifting off to dreamland.

- - -

As Ichigo walked out his door, his head automatically turned to see if Rukia would come out as well. But her car was already gone. Damn. He wanted to know whether she was feeling better.

Oh well. He would probably find out at school.

And he did find out at school. She was apparently feeling better, but as the day progressed, he came to the conclusion that she was lying, or that the stomach ache had some serious side effects.

She was acting the same to everyone; only a few sentences to each person, cut off any conversations quickly – even Matsumoto had a hard time talking to her.

After his first attempt in engaging her in a 'normal' conversation, which was in fact, to re-invite her to his house, she found her way out of it, and left him standing alone in the empty school hallways. Even though she had been like this to everyone all day, it was probably him who was most affected. He didn't tell anyone about it, as they would probably just dismiss it as 'that time of the month' but he knew it wasn't something as simple as that. On top of her short conversations, he had this…feeling that she was avoiding him.

These events, piled with her mysterious stomach ache the night before really nagged at his mind. Did he do something wrong?

Later on that day, during the second last period, he sat next to her, but she hadn't said anything. In fact, Ichigo could swear that the teacher was surprised that there wasn't any noise coming from both of them, as was the usual.

The bell rang, and both of them stood up to leave. Rukia turned to walk out the classroom door.

He watched her, the last one out, aside from him. Before she walked out the door, he called her name.

"Rukia."

She stopped walking.

Ichigo picked his books up from the table. "Hey. I…is anything wrong?" he asked, still not moving from his standing position.

Because of where he was in the classroom, her face was hidden behind the door.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice betraying no emotion.

Because he couldn't see her face, he failed to see a single tear drop from her eyes, as she walked away. He rushed outside of the classroom, to see her walking down the hallway quite fast, for someone her size. Most other people were already outside, and it was only him and her in the hallway.

"Rukia," he called out.

But this time she didn't stop, instead, she walked faster.

Ichigo was about to chase her, but thought against it. She probably needed sometime alone. Even though he really wanted to know what was up, he let it be. At least next period he could sit next to her again.

Next period came and went, but she was absent. When he asked Matsumoto about it, she merely replied that she hadn't seen her either. Upon questioning a few others, he had found out that she had gone home early.

He swallowed. Was it him?

- - -

**AN: **Ah, I know not much happened this chapter, but I hope you got a bit of…background on the Kuchiki family. Next chapter, I will resolve the conflict, so keep an eye out! Reviews are much appreciated!


	15. Making Memories Part III

**AN: **Now, here comes the next chapter. Sorry for making you guys wait a bunch. Hopefully I can get back into the whole writing deal soon.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach

- - -

**Return to no Home: Making Memories (Part III)**

**- - -**

There was no way he could sleep. Well, more accurately, he had slept all he could. After waking up numerous times he decided it would just be stupid to try and sleep. If he was going to lie on his bed and do nothing, he might as well do something productive.

Even if it was at two in the morning.

After grabbing a cold drink from the refrigerator, he switched on his bedside lamp, and proceeded to read over yesterday's work. But it was no use. Every subject he looked at reminded him of Rukia. Well, more precisely, what he had done in that class with Rukia. When he came to the subject where he had asked Rukia what was wrong, he closed the book. And turned off the lamp. Looks like he was just going to have to lie there until sleep decided to come.

Except he noticed something. As he lay down, he noticed a dim light shining through his blinds. He got up immediately.

Rukia was still awake. And she had a balcony.

- - -

Rukia sat on the edge of her bed. She hadn't slept yet, nor did she try to. She was too busy sorting out her thoughts. The phone call from yesterday was still annoying her. Her phone call had been the cruelest thing she had experienced on a phone. After telling her he missed her, he had told her that they should split up. She didn't know why it had affected her so much, because she had entertained the thought, more than once, of her breaking up with Renji, because he had left so abruptly. And there was Ichigo…

He had also said something…unusual. At the time she hadn't really thought much about it because she was too shocked at what she was hearing. Wasn't she the one who was supposed to end the relationship?

After saying that they should split up, he also added one last line.

"_We should probably not keep in touch. It's not safe."_

She tucked that last sentence away in the back of her mind. What was more important now was Ichigo…She didn't know how to face him. It would seem strange to just…go up to him and say, 'You know what we were talking about that other day, about putting us on hold? Could we just, pretend that never happened, since I just got dumped?'

It just didn't sound right; it sounded plain weird. Besides, with the way she was acting yesterday, she wasn't sure if he still liked her. She had been avoiding him, and she had seen the hurt look on his face when she did.

It wouldn't surprise her if he avoided her tomorrow.

She looked up suddenly, as she heard a soft thump outside her window. Burglars? Maybe. Their house was expensive, but what robber in his right mind would steal something from a house that had a light on at this time of morning?

She heard a soft knock on her sliding door. She pulled back the blinds.

"Ichigo?"

She opened the door, and watched him as he took off his shoes. He stepped in quietly, and while she was closing the door she asked, "What are you –"

As she turned around, she abruptly stopped talking, as Ichigo had placed his hands on either side of her head, preventing her from escaping.

His head was facing the ground, so she couldn't read his eyes, and she temporarily felt…scared. But when he spoke, her fear vanished.

"I…" His voice was unsteady, unsure. "…I know you've been trying to avoid me…because of something I've done…And I know…I'm in this whole 'waiting' period, since you have a boyfriend…" He looked up, something akin to determination in his eyes. "But…we're friends and even if you don't like me…I like you," he finished.

Rukia smiled softly. The idiot didn't even give her a chance to explain. But perhaps it would be easier now, she thought, as she leaned forward and hugged him. She stifled a laugh as she felt him take a step back. She had expected surprise, so she hung on tightly, until he returned the hug.

- - -

"Ah…so _that's _what it was," he said, feeling quite awkward. She had explained to him the whole reason why she was feeling different yesterday, with Renji's phone call and all. It also made sense why she had been avoiding him yesterday.

Now he was the one who was feeling embarrassed. He had gone and blurted out everything he 'thought' was happening, but in reality it was he who was uninformed about everything. Even though he was embarrassed, he still felt relieved, due to the fact that what he was thinking was actually not true at all. All of this time he had been thinking it had been something to do with him.

And now, he was feeling awkward for a completely different reason.

"Sorry about…um, misunderstanding," he said, after Rukia fell silent.

Rukia shook her head. "It was my fault."

Ichigo fell silent after that. What was there to say? They were sitting on her bedroom floor, and it was now three in the morning.

"So…about Renji…" he ask tentatively, not wanting to tread on any special feelings she had for him.

"Oh…him," she replied. "I…It's over between us." Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to cry. She wouldn't cry, not in front of Ichigo.

"Hey."

She looked up questioningly.

"You can cry if you want. It's natural to feel pain after a breakup," he said quietly.

And then the tears came again. Ichigo scooted closer to her, and slowly placed his arms around her.

- - -

"You should probably go now."

He nodded, but didn't move. They were facing the same way, towards her window blinds, looking at nothing. He had his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. His head was on her shoulder, and they had sat like that for quite a long time.

"How did you get up here anyway?"

"I jumped," he replied.

"Really?" she turned around in surprise. "That was dangerous," she scolded.

"I was more interested in why you were still awake."

"Mm…Come on," she said, tugging at his arm, so that he would release her. He didn't. She turned around, pecking him on the cheek. "Come on, you really should go. You'll be late for school again."

Reluctantly, he released her, and they both stood up. As he put on his shoes, she watched him. "I…Tomorrow…"

He stood up quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah…" she replied. "Um…" she looked to the side, unsure of what to do. Kiss him? It sure seemed appropriate.

"Good night."

"Good night."

With that, she closed her sliding door, immediately regretting her action. Why didn't she just kiss him?

_Because you're scared, _a voice taunted her.

_Very much so_, she replied silently to herself.

- - -

Ichigo awoke, feeling the sun on his face.

"Mm..." he groaned. "What time is it," he said to himself, rolling over. It was probably about "that" time, he thought to himself, standing up shakily. A few moments later, someone came crashing down on his bed.

His dad.

"Ichigoooo! You have so suavely evaded my sure-fire death attack! You are worthy to be my son!"

"Ok," Ichigo mumbled sleepily, and walked off to the bathroom, leaving his dad standing there looking very confused.

What? No smart comebacks? No fighting? Either his son was extremely sleepy or…

He burst into Yuzu and Karin's room waking them up with a start. "Guess what!" He proclaimed loudly.

"Shutup…" That was Karin.

"Yes, dad?"

"When I woke up your older brother today, he didn't do anything back! He must truly love me!" The man danced around happily, pink hearts replacing his pupils.

"Or maybe he has a girlfriend," Yuzu chirped.

Underneath her bed covers Karin rolled her eyes. As if that would ever happen.

­- - -

Twenty-five minutes later at the breakfast table, Karin was seriously considering what Yuzu had suggested. Ichigo was acting…weird, but that was the biggest understatement of the year.

He didn't talk much at the table, though that was the usual. But Karin watched him sometimes go red for no reason at all, and he would stare at his plate for long periods of time until the natural colour of his face returned.

He finished fast, and ran upstairs to brush his teeth. Meanwhile, down at the table, his dad and Yuzu started talking in hushed tones, and making confused expressions.

"Hey, Yuzu," Karin said, while standing up. "Maybe you were right."

"About?"

"Maybe Ichigo does have a girlfriend." With that she left the table, leaving her dad and Yuzu saucer-eyed.

A few minutes later, as he made his way down the stairs, he noticed his dad and his younger sisters staring at him intently.

"What?" he scowled, not liking the idea of being scrutinized so heavily by the other members of his family. It wasn't like he had anything to hide. Apart from the fact that he had been in the neighbour's bedroom at three in the morning. But that was normal. Very normal, he told himself, in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

He quickly made his way to the front door, ignoring the concentrated stares coming from the table.

"I'll be going now." It was a bit too rushed, too hurried. They would immediately sense that something was up.

Sure enough, before he could get out the door, he heard his dad cry, "Is it true that you have a girlfriend?"

He slammed the door.

Which left him standing on his front porch, rather awkwardly as he saw Rukia at the bottom of his steps, grinning impishly.

"Uh…hey," he said after a few moments of silence. Damn. Why did she have to hear that?

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "A girlfriend? You stopped liking me already?" she asked with that mischievous glint in her eye.

Ichigo groaned, and placed his hand over his face. This was the last thing he needed. "No…ah, they were, um…"

"Yes?" She said expectantly, though Ichigo could bet his life that she knew what he was talking about.

"Never mind," he said, hating the sound of his rushed voice. He walked down the stairs. "Anyway, aren't you a bit early today? And your older brother…" he trailed off.

"Ah, yeah," she said taking a step closer to him," He had to leave early this morning; something about his job. He woke me up telling me that, and I couldn't go back to sleep."

"Oh," he said, not knowing what to say. "So…you're walking to school today?"

She nodded. "I can see last night's escapade had a rather large effect on your sleep," she said, taking another step closer to him.

"Huh?" was all he could reply.

"Well, for starters," she said, closing the gap between them, "You buttoned up your shirt wrong." She smiled, and started unbuttoning his shirt.

He gulped, trying desperately not to turn red. "W-what are you doing?" he managed, not being able to move back, temporarily paralyzed by the nearness of her.

"Shush. You know this is what they do to old people at those nursing homes because they can't dress themselves properly?" She started to button his shirt properly.

Her comment seemed to jolt him back into his normal personality. "You saying I'm old?"

"I'm saying you can't dress yourself properly."

"It's the lack of sleep, ok?"

"Whose fault is that?"

"Yours," he quickly replied, referring to the night before.

"You lose sleep over me? Oh, I'm so flattered," Rukia answered in an unnaturally high voice, mocking him.

He let out a sigh. "You know what I mean." It wasn't fun being made fun of so early in the morning, but he was happy on the inside. It was as if the awkwardness had been washed away due to their playful banter.

Rukia took a step back, to admire her work. "Now…I'll leave the shirt un-tucked, because I know you want to look 'cool'," she said sarcastically. She stepped in again, this time fixing up his collar.

Ichigo felt himself heat up again, and the two were strangely silent, as Rukia was so close to him. She could probably feel his heart pounding, he thought. Stupid girl.

"There. Done," she said, thankfully stepping back, and giving him room to breathe.

"Thanks," he muttered, turning his head away so she wouldn't see him blush. Even so, he took a step forward. Just a step more and…

She tapped him on the chest, motioning behind him.

Ichigo turned around to see his whole family ogling at the two of them, their heads ridiculously sticking out of the open door. Even Karin was looking.

It was Yuzu who spoke first.

"Um…you forgot to put on your shoes, Ichigo."

- - -

**AN: **YAY! I can feel the 'creative juices' as some of you may call it, flowing through me! WOOOHOOO!! I hope I can just keep on writing, and writing and writing. Actually I think I'll go write the next chapter of this, just so I won't lose this feeling. WOOO!! Thank you to all the reviewers of my new fic, 'Christmas in the USA', you guys really helped.


	16. Valentine Memory Part I

**AN: **Wee! More fluff! It's a Valentine's Day special! (It means its longer than usual...ACTUALLY its alot longer than usual. Fricken 5000+ words) Well, over here its valentines day anyhow. Seems like the valentines thing that I included way earlier in my story…(like chapter 5? Or 6?) worked out perfectly for Valentines today :D. You might need to read back a bit. Yeah, definitely read back to chapter 6. It'll help you understand.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

- - -

**Return to no Home: Valentine Memory (Part I)  
**

**- - -**

_February 14. They day they left._

The chocolates probably should have tasted bad, Ichigo thought. He didn't care. It was a present from his, yes _his_, precious friend. Even though he wasn't old enough to understand the implications behind the gift, he was old enough to realise that he was something special to her. And that made him happy.

He held the packet in his hands, the chocolates long eaten. Now that he was eight, his parents allowed him to walk to and from the park alone, quite a big responsibility which he relished in. It just didn't feel as…comfortable, playing with Rukia in his house, or her house, though he thoroughly enjoyed it when they did. But the park was _their _place, they owned it. Besides, it was where they had met, Rukia had said one day, very seriously. It meant that it was _special_. Ichigo had just nodded.

Rukia had already gone home, having said her goodbyes at her front gate, and left Ichigo standing on the front porch of his house. On every other day he would have gone barging in, but this time he suddenly felt awkward, and had a sudden feeling that he should hide the chocolate wrappers. It was, after all, the first time he had received such a thing.

He was about to step in his house when he heard Rukia's front door open again. He turned to see Rukia pop her head out.

"Oh, Ichigo! Guess what?"

He looked at her questioningly.

"Nii-sama is taking me out to dinner tonight," she said excitedly.

Ichigo smiled, his previous mood of unease gone. "That's so cool," he called back.

Rukia nodded. "Ok, that's all I wanted to tell you," she laughed.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he called out.

"Bye."

And the door closed, leaving Ichigo with the familiar feeling of unease. But was it really the fact that he had received chocolates from her? No, something as small as that wouldn't make him feel that way.

He pushed open the door, and immediately felt something wrong. It was deadly silent.

"Dad?" he called out hesitantly. "Mum?"

He panicked. Where was everyone?

Relief washed over him as he heard his mother's familiar voice float from the living room. "Ichigo? Is that you?"

Ichigo ran to the living room, where he found his parents sitting quietly on the couch. "How come it's so quiet?" he blurted out.

"Shh…You'll wake your little sisters. Now go wash up before we eat dinner," his mother ordered him. He obeyed promptly and ran up the stairs.

His mother watched the stairs long after he was gone. She turned to her husband. "You don't think they're serious, do you?"

Isshin shrugged. "The earthquake was a pretty serious one. And to be followed directly by a heavy storm…" he trailed off. "It's easy to see why they'd call us, even from where we are."

"But is it really necessary to move?" his wife sighed. "I was just getting settled here…"

Ichigo's father moved closer to his wife. "We can't afford _not _to move, dear. Even if we went there…just to help, we'd be there for quite some time."

His wife gave another resigned sigh. "Yes…The people need help, after all."

Isshin stood up. "It's not like we didn't know this could happen." He paused for a moment. "Are you going to tell Ichigo? We're going to be moving tonight, from the looks of it."

His wife nodded. "He'll be sad. So will Rukia."

- - -

"Rukia."

She turned at the sound of her brother's voice. He smiled down at his younger sister. She had been so strong, coping with the death of their parents. He could provide for her, certainly, but he couldn't provide a _genuine _parental love. He squatted down so that Rukia wouldn't be intimidated. He supposed it would be ok to spoil her. After all, they did have money.

"Have you ever slept in a hotel before?" he asked.

His younger sister shook her head. "Why?"

"Well, you see, I was thinking of taking you into the city for dinner, but it'll probably be very late by the time we get back. The restaurant is at the bottom of the hotel, so I was wondering if…"

He smiled inwardly as he saw his little sister's eyes widen. "Really?" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him.

He managed a small laugh. "So, yes?"

She nodded gleefully, then stopped, as if thinking. "What about school?" she asked.

Byakuya shook his head. "We'll wake up early."

Rukia smiled. "Then, I'll be ready soon," she promised.

- - -

Something was definitely wrong, Ichigo decided. His parents weren't talking as much as they did, his dad wasn't cracking any stupid jokes, and there was a heavy atmosphere of despair around the room.

"Ichigo," his mother said quietly, breaking the silence.

He looked up, eager for a reasonable explanation.

"We're going to move again." Without waiting for him to respond she quickly explained why. The earthquake, in another part of Japan. The heavy storming, that followed. Leaving many people homeless and injured. The hospitals couldn't cope, so the medical foundation which Ichigo's parents were part of immediately sent out urgent requests for more doctors. Lives were at stake.

She told Ichigo the bare essentials, including the fact that they were leaving this very night. Most of their belongings would be delivered to their new residence, provided by the management; they were only to bring what they needed.

Ichigo drank this all in, and a sickening feeling sunk in his stomach. _Rukia…_

He stood up abruptly. He was old enough to know that no amount of bickering, arguing, or yelling could change his parents' mind. Besides, an event of this magnitude somehow cut him so deep that even his childish instincts didn't come into reasoning.

"I have to tell Rukia," he said simply, all of a sudden losing his appetite. His parents didn't say anything as he walked out the door.

His mother sighed. "I guess we should probably pack. The plane leaves soon."

- - -

Ichigo didn't say a word. His parents looked at each other worriedly. They knew he would be…emotional, to say the least, but there was something _scary _about the calmness on his face. Like an invisible barrier was hiding what he truly felt.

They were in a taxi, an hour after Ichigo had said he was going to say goodbye to Rukia. What his mum was worried about though, was that there seemed to be no one home when she, herself, went over to explain the situation to Rukia's older brother.

Did Ichigo _really _say goodbye?

She wondered as they got off at the airport.

- - -

Rukia sat back, content. She only wished that Ichigo was here with her. Sure, eating with her older brother was fun, but eating with Ichigo…her thoughts trailed back to him, and she blushed faintly when she remembered that _she_, Rukia, had actually given Ichigo a present. And he said he liked it too!

Byakuya looked at his little sister. She had behaved quite well, and it was still rather early. He wondered absentmindedly if there was anywhere in the city where he could take a young girl to have fun. He hadn't had much experience in dating, even though he was in high school. However, he was smart enough to realise that he looked better than the average guy. He hadn't taken this way of thinking pompously, of course; it was just that sometimes it helped him, in various ways. Take for instance, the waitress who was smiling a bit _too _much at him. He had smiled back, just to make sure that Rukia would get the proper service she deserved, not just ignored because she was a child.

He racked his brains. Where would be fun for Rukia at this time of night? He knew she didn't want to sleep just now.

"Rukia. Do you want to go anywhere else tonight?" he asked her.

Rukia looked up at the ceiling. The night out with her brother had been fun, she concluded. But if he was offering… "Um…I want to go to the airport."

- - -

Ichigo was glum. His parents didn't try to cheer him up, instead, they felt guilty. But deep down, they knew they were doing what they had to do. But he was coping with it pretty well. Or was he, his mother wondered. She might have been a bit more comfortable with the normal screaming and yelling, as his sorrow now…seemed much more adult. And that was dangerous.

They boarded the plane, and his mother graciously swapped seats with the boy so that he could be by the window. He sat there quietly, staring outside at nothing. He found that if he squinted, he could make out the some of the faces of people standing at the window, thanks to the bright floodlights that were mounted on the roof of the airport.

The captain went through with the formalities, and it wasn't until the plane slowly started moving forward that he caught a glimpse of her. It was her, no doubt, and she was with her older brother. Why they were at the airport, he did not know, but he did know that it was _her_. Hope welled up inside of him, and he yelled out her name, startling some of the passengers.

It was her, it really was! He called out her name again, desperately willing that she would turn her attention to the plane. He bashed on the window, hating the flexibility that the fibreglass had.

But it was too late. She had no idea he was there, and the plane steadily kept moving forward to the runway, as if mocking his feelings.

- - -

Ichigo chewed on the end of his pencil. It wasn't something he usually did; he only did it while in deep thought. However, the teacher didn't know that, and simply assumed that the orange-haired boy was considering the math problems she had given the class to do.

He was a bright boy after all, the teacher thought, considering her first impressions of him. Getting into a fight on the first day of school – she _knew _those types. The types that wouldn't listen in class, the types that every teacher had just about given up on. Which was why she was surprised when she looked over a small quiz they had had, and saw that he had ranked second, behind Hitsugaya. She had grinned. Rukia would be mad.

So yes, he was definitely thinking about school work.

Except that he wasn't. Usually he would be, but today he was not. The thing that occupied his thoughts was in fact, not a thing, but a person – the petite, dark haired girl that was sitting right next to him.

She had been quite a bother, actually. In his previous schools, he found it easy to focus his attention on schoolwork, and then end up topping the class. Now he had to put in extra effort just to stay on track, since the image of her kept popping up in his mind. It made it more difficult in school, since she was just there.

He took a peek. Her head was bent over her desk, scribbling down answers, just like most of the class were doing. Except for him. Well, he thought as he sighed, at least that embarrassing event that happened a few days ago had finally blown over. It wasn't his fault that it had looked so damn…_wrong _from where they were standing. Though, he thought amusedly, it would be weird watching some guy having his shirt unbuttoned by a girl on his front steps. Of course, his family had ended up asking him question after question after question. Which he answered of course.

No, she was not his girlfriend, and no, he didn't know if she wanted to be _his _girlfriend, and yes, everything was complicated, and no he didn't do those kinds of things at night (his dad had been quite straightforward about asking _that _question) and yes, she could probably come over for dinner sometime.

The questions had finally stopped coming, and he looked forward to a fresh new day in school, without having to worry about coming home to a constant machine gun barrage of embarrassing questions. Karin's were the worst though. They weren't as frequently fired as his Dad's questions, and not as annoyingly innocent as Yuzu's questions, but she knew what kind of things to ask.

Such as, 'How long does it take until your palms get sweaty while holding her hand', or, 'How many times have you kissed her?' _Those _kinds of questions. The kind of questions you couldn't answer without already indirectly giving an answer. Heck, he couldn't answer any of them because it would mean that he actually admitted to doing it.

But now, the questions had slowed down, and he could finally concentrate. Truth be told, his relationship with Rukia wasn't going anywhere. Not that it wasn't _good_, it was just that it seemed like the line between a best _male _friend, and an actual _boyfriend _was acres wide. And made of sinking sand. He wasn't exactly the type of person to make a move in the first place. He just automatically assumed, because of small incidents, that she was comfortable where they were. It made him sad, to think that way, but he had promised her that he would wait.

Wait? But he had already waited, right? Waited until that idiot finally dumped her…so what was he waiting for?

- - -

Rukia was having troubles of her own. She didn't know what to do. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She did have a general, vague, _very_ vague idea, but she never used to do this.

Not even with Renji. He had told her that it didn't really matter whether she gave him handmade or bought, as long as it was from her. That had made her smile. She was even about to go buy Ichigo some – until she saw how full his locker was with…chocolate.

And what was worse, was those stupid, pink, stupid cards they stuck there with it. Argh, it drove her insane. And Ichigo hadn't even seen them yet, considering it was only first period, and the only reason why _she _had seen it was because she had passed his locker on her way to the toilet.

Well that put the fire out on her idea of just buying him chocolate. Who the hell thought of that stupid idea where girls have to give guys chocolate? She shouldn't even have to give him one. He'd probably understand, too, but the thought of him eating…no, just looking at those other chocolates and cards made her sick.

That did it. She was going home to make chocolates for him. She wasn't about to be beaten by a bunch of immature, squealing girls. Why couldn't it have been as easy as before? Where he didn't have any other stupid girls giving him chocolates, except for her. Not that she was stupid or anything. She sighed. This whole Valentines day business was really getting her down.

- - -

Ichigo glanced at the girl next to him. She seemed to be deep in thought, or just very irritated at her paper. He grinned, thinking about how cute she looked when she was angry.

She suddenly turned and looked at him. "What?" she said, slightly cross.

Ichigo stifled a laugh. She really did look cute when she was angry. He hoped it wasn't directed at him though. That would place a damper on things. Come to think of it, it wasn't only Rukia that was acting weird, it was the whole class. In his earlier observation, he had seen people trying to work, but looking closer, he saw a lot of fidgeting, and a general nervous atmosphere floating in the air. Especially with the girls. He wondered what was wrong.

He found out soon enough, when he went to his locker and found it crammed with an assortment of chocolates worthy to be on display at a first class candy shop. He blinked. Oh. That's right. Valentines Day. The legendary day where girls spent their time making chocolates for guys they fancied. Apparently he was fancied by a lot of girls.

He didn't know why though. It wasn't as if he had made an active commitment to get to know anyone, other than Rukia's group. And out of them none of them would send him chocolates. Matsumoto certainly wouldn't, maybe Yumichika, but that was disgusting. Perhaps Rukia, he started to think, but cast that thought away when he saw her glaring at him from her locker.

_Ok…maybe not her._

Not that he really expected one from her, even if he had known it was Valentines Day. The reason being that a very long Valentines Day ago there was still a small incident that needed to be cleared up. Small was an understatement.

He walked over to Rukia, with the load of packages in his hands, unaware he was being watched by various girls, who had undoubtedly given him one of those packages. He tried to hide his smile as he saw her getting angrier and angrier. He wondered what he could have done this time.

"Hey Rukia," he said casually.

"…"

He frowned to himself. He hadn't done anything lately…had he? And she couldn't be angry because he hadn't gotten her anything – guys weren't supposed to give stuff on Valentines, right?

"Um…do you think you could help me with this?" he asked, gesturing to the load in his hands. That was, after all, the reason why he had wandered over to her.

She gave him an indignant look, and promptly spun on her heel, her pleated skirt swinging as she headed towards their next class

Leaving Ichigo there…well, flabbergasted to say the least.

"Um…what's wrong with her?" he asked Matsumoto who had happened to see the whole incident.

The strawberry blonde grinned wolfishly. "Just a little female temperament," she said, winking at the other student as she left.

Just a little? That was more like a bucketful. And speaking of bucketfuls, he would have to find somewhere to put this bunch of chocolates before he went to his next class. He didn't particularly care for any of them – he usually threw them out, like what he did at his old school – but he didn't want others seeing him do it. Especially the girls. They were quite…emotional, when it came to things such as these. Usually he would just bring them home and chuck them in the trash. Or his sisters would eat them.

However, even though it was hoping against hope, he did want to see if Rukia had given him anything. Quite badly. And for that reason, he would look at all of them when he got home.

- - -

Rukia was fuming. How _dare _he, how _dare _he even think of coming up to her _AND _asking her such an absurd thing. She should have punched him. She barely noticed her best friend, Matsumoto climb in the seat beside her.

"You look ready to murder," her friend commented helpfully, as she got out the things she needed for the lesson. When Rukia didn't answer, she continued. "Are you going to make him some?" she asked slyly, but quietly.

Rukia looked at her friend.

"I guess that means…no?" she asked jokingly.

Rukia didn't answer.

"You know he didn't mean it," the girl next to her said. Rukia relaxed a bit. "I mean, he's just a bit…thick, that's all. But he meant well."

"Besides," Matsumoto whispered after the lesson had begun. "It's not exactly clear that you like the guy."

Rukia stopped writing for a fraction of a second, and then started again. "What do you mean it's not clear?" she whispered back. Wasn't it clear? She had tried as hard as hell to make it clear…or had she? Come to think of it, she hadn't really been making any advancements on their relationship, but then again, neither had he. Anyway, he was the guy – shouldn't he be doing the moves?

Matsumoto grinned. "I know what you're thinking. But by the way you explained it to me, you were the one who put him in this 'waiting' period…and I'm pretty sure he still thinks he's in it."

Rukia paused to think. That wasn't true, was it? After all, Renji had already broken up with her, and though that had been not to long ago…still, you would think that the guy would see that she was single. She didn't exactly know what to think. But, she reasoned out with herself, _if _Ichigo was actually trying to make some change in their relationship, she probably wouldn't have liked it anyway. It would be too early, too soon, and she needed time. Or did she? She had cried quite properly when Ichigo was there in her room, and it had really felt good to get it out of her system.

"You know, if you make chocolates for him this could make it a whole lot easier," Matsumoto pointed out.

Rukia sighed. She was right as usual. Instead of trying to voice her feelings, and quite possibly end up sounding stupid, it would be reasonable to just give him something, and let him figure out the rest. That left her with another problem, though. She hadn't made chocolates since she had made them for him those ten years ago. She grinned, inspite of herself. She distinctly remembered him telling her that they were the best thing he tasted. They probably weren't, looking back now, but perhaps it was time to make him something that tasted a bit better.

He better be grateful, Rukia thought to herself, as she returned her concentration to the task at hand.

"Or…you could corner him, and tie him down…"

Rukia glared at her friend.

"What?" The other girl raised her shoulders. "I'm just saying maybe you should take the initiative."

Maybe.

- - -

Every time he tried to talk to Rukia during the day, it always ended up in either small, polite talk, or just none at all. It worried him more and more, so much so that he even asked Matsumoto for help.

The other girl had just smiled and told him, with a knowing smile, that it was her _time_ of the month. Ichigo had taken a step back. Everything seemed to fall into place then.

"It'll be ok, just give her a few days," the strawberry blonde had told him. "And, walking up to her with all that chocolate probably wasn't such a good idea."

"I figured," he had replied.

Last period came, but he didn't see Rukia. He guessed she had gone home early, as she wasn't around for lunch. Even after the explanation from Matsumoto, he still didn't feel entirely satisfied. Something was definitely up. But Matsumoto told him again that there was nothing to worry about and it _definitely _was not something he had done.

So here he was, sitting on the floor of his bedroom, with the chocolates spread out in front of him. He quickly skimmed over them, checking to see if there was a 'From Rukia' anywhere, or any drawings of bunnies. None.

He was about to gather them up and throw them in the rubbish, when he heard a knock on the front door.

He got up. Karin and Yuzu probably shouldn't be home yet, since they had club activities. He opened the door to find Rukia standing there with her hands behind her back. She was dressed in a pair of cargo pants, followed by a small white jacket.

"Uh…" he wasn't quite sure what to say. It was as if all his attempts of talking to her at school had already exhausted his conversation skills with her for the whole week.

"Hey," she said helpfully.

"Hey," he replied, feeling rather awkward.

"Here." She pulled out from behind her back a small package. "I made them."

"Oh." He took the package hesitatingly. "Uh…thanks." He reached up to scratch the back of his neck, feeling embarrassed. Why the hell would he be embarrassed? He'd received girl's chocolates before. There was nothing to it. But Rukia's…

"Well, I better be going now," she said, apparently feeling the awkward tension between them.

That snapped Ichigo out of his thoughts. "Ah, no, no, come in," he said hurriedly, when he realised he hadn't invited her in like he usually did. She followed him up the stairs to his room, while he was staring at the package. Before they reached his room, he stopped abruptly and turned around to face her. Rukia had to stop herself from walking into him.

"Did you…" he started, while Rukia looked up at him impatiently. Couldn't he just open the damn thing and get over it? "…is this why you skipped class?" he asked slowly.

Rukia flushed, and looked away. "Yeah…so?"

Ichigo felt strangely warm inside. "Never mind," he said, softer than he intended, and moved forward and hugged her. He felt her body stiffen in response, but soon enough she relaxed. "Thanks a lot," he said, after drawing back.

"Uh…about this morning…sorry about that."

Rukia nodded, as if accepting his apology. With that, Ichigo turned around and opened his door. And saw the floor. Littered with the pink cards and other packages that he had received throughout the day.

"Oh," he heard her say behind him.

Uh-oh.

"I see you were busy," she said, quite coldly.

"Ah…no, it's…"

But she had already begun walking down the stairs. He ran after her, over taking her, and stopped in front of her.

She folded her arms, and Ichigo noted that even at 2 steps lower than her their height was pretty much the same. "I was looking for one…from you," he said hurriedly before she could brush past him. As if realising what he had just said, he looked to the side.

She didn't say anything, so he continued. "I was about to throw them away but then you rang the doorbell."

Rukia looked at him, seemingly satisfied with his answer. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief.

- - -

"Sorry that they made you stay for dinner," Ichigo said quietly. It was already dark, and he and Rukia were standing just outside her house. His dad and sisters had come home while Rukia was in his room, and by the fuss they had made it was like it was the end of the world. In the end, his dad got Rukia to stay for dinner, and, while they fired some not very appropriate questions, they did behave.

"It's ok," she replied. "Nii-sama wasn't coming home until late anyway." Ichigo looked down at her. She looked…pretty in the moonlight, but it wasn't something he was going to say.

"Good night," he said, before his thoughts carried him elsewhere. Whatever the circumstances between him and Rukia, he could bet that the wound from Renji was still fresh. He wasn't about to make it worse…even if it meant that he couldn't get close to her.

Rukia grabbed his hand, just as he turned to go. She swallowed, wondering why she had done that. Her thoughts drifted to what Matsumoto had said earlier that day.

"_What?" The other girl raised her shoulders. "I'm just saying maybe you should take the initiative."_

Was this…taking the initiative? She hadn't had much experience with guys, just Renji. Other guys…other ways…she had no idea about. Ichigo still hadn't turned around, but he wasn't going anywhere either. Finally he broke the silence.

"Rukia…" Why the hell was she doing this to him? Couldn't she tell that it was already hard enough to restrain himself? She tugged on his hand, and that was the last straw.

He drew in close to her, wrapping his arms around her. He heard her gasp softly, and then watched her as she tried not to look at him. They were so close he could feel her heartbeat in rhythm with his.

He leant down slowly, feeling their heart rate increase.

"Just…once," he heard her say, almost breathlessly, as if finally giving in. He nodded slightly, even though he knew she probably couldn't see.

It was different to their first kiss, where he had just kissed her out of impulse. That kiss was rather fast too. This one…it had started slow, and had finished slow. He almost immediately regretted taking his lips from hers.

He swallowed. And then moved back slowly. Rukia suddenly felt cold, as his body warmth drifted from her.

"I'll…see you tomorrow," he said. His voice sounded different.

"Bye."

- - -

Ichigo tried not to look guilty as he walked back into his house. He had, after all, been a while, and he knew his family would be _dying _to know what had happened. Funnily enough the house was quiet, and his dad barely looked up as he came in. It was as if…He shook his head. This feeling was too much like the time when…he didn't want to think about it. The time when they moved. He still hadn't explained to Rukia about that.

"Oh, Ichigo?"

Ichigo stopped at the foot of the stairs. Something about his dad's voice wasn't right.

"Your grandfather rang up. He's in hospital."

- - -

**AN: **Oooo…Just a piece of information, just a little. I know it bugs the HELL out of you guys. Muahahaha. Well, this chapter was yonks long. Reviews are much loved and appreciated. By the time this is posted, it will be around…2 hours until Valentines Day is officially over. Weeeee! Happy Valentines Day Everyone! Drop me in a review!


	17. Valentine Memory Part II

**AN: **Erm…hi…Ah…wow, five months, yeah, not long at all…So, um, yeahhhhh… I kinda haven't been updating because I've been um…yeah, working part-time, studying full time, living alone full time (trust me its a lot harder than it sounds) P and yeah…no time to write.

Anyway, enough jabber, and here's the next chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach

- - -

**Return to no Home: Valentine Memory (Part II)**

**- - -**

It was a warm, sunny day. It felt like one of those 'happy-moments' scene in the movies, Rukia decided. The scene where the prince took away his princess and they live happily ever after. Except of course, right now, it was even better since _she _was the princess, and she was just starting her 'happily ever after'. Yesterday had been great, Rukia thought, leaning back on the soft hotel bed. There was just no other word to describe it. She had given Ichigo chocolates, she had gone out with her brother to an absolutely amazing (not to mention expensive) dinner, and also, she had had a lot of fun in the airport.

Nii-sama had been kind enough to buy her ice-cream, even though he told her that it was unhealthy so late at night. She liked the airport at night. It was quieter, and had that exciting atmosphere – the eager anticipation just before one goes on a long awaited journey. Of course, she wasn't going anywhere, but it was still fun to watch planes go by and imagine that she would be going on one of them very soon.

The hotel beds were comfy, not too hard, but not to soft either. That, coupled with the fact that her brother was in the bed next to her, allowed her to have one of the most peaceful sleeps in her life. This in turn, meant that she had woken up long before she should have.

Later on, she would wish that the day hadn't seemed that good after all.

They travelled back in the car, Rukia excited, yet slightly nervous to meet Ichigo at school. Sure, they were friends and everything, but who knew? Perhaps he would suddenly change overnight, because she had dared give him a valentines gift. Maybe he actually didn't like her chocolates. Maybe he was just telling her that they tasted good just because he was a nice boy.

She shook her head visibly. These types of things shouldn't be running around in an eight-year-old's mind, she thought. But it wasn't as if she was a normal eight-year-old girl. Without her parents, and even under the tender care of her older brother, she still had to mature much faster than expected.

Or maybe it was those drama shows she liked to watch.

She laughed, in spite of herself. Byakuya looked down at the girl beside him, raising his eyes.

"Nothing," she exclaimed, turning to look out of the window. They were almost home.

She changed quickly into her school clothes, getting more and more nervous. What would he say? Would he tell his friends? What if they laughed at her? Breathing in deeply, she exited the house, and made her way to his. If she hadn't been so cheerful due to the previous' day events, she would have noticed the unusual quietness, and the closure of the blinds in the living room.

And then she knocked on the door. Twice.

- - -

Rukia woke up, sweating and breathing heavily. The usually ordered blankets were now strewn across her bed and body in a chaotic pile. She sat up, brushing soaking wet hair away from her face with her hand. It took her about a minute before her breathing returned to normal, although it still sounded loud in the darkness.

She peered outside her window. The sun hadn't even begun to rise yet. The clock on her bedside table read 4:02 AM. She knew she had just had a bad dream, but she couldn't remember what.

It was something unpleasant, to be sure. She got up, pulling on a warm sweater. Her blankets were soaked with sweat; there was no way she wanted to go to sleep again. Instead, she decided to go for a quick early morning jog.

The familiar streets of Karakura seemed transformed in the eerie glow of lamplight, Rukia concluded after failing to jog. It had turned into an early morning walk instead. It was pretty scary too, she thought. Not liking where her imagination was taking her, she quickly switched to thinking about Ichigo. She wondered what he was doing at the moment. Probably sleeping, like a normal person would be, having normal dreams. She wondered why she liked the guy anyway. For one, he was moody (not that she wasn't), he wasn't really funny…he looked ok, she conceded, when he dressed properly. So, she concluded, there was really no good reason why a girl would like Ichigo. Except she knew that wasn't true. It was because he was nice. Over the centuries, the word 'nice' had been grossly overused, so now whenever girls used that word to describe guys it was usually just a product of infatuation. But Ichigo, she believed, was genuinely nice, behind that 'I'm-to-moody-and-cool-to-care-for-anyone' mask. And she knew that for a fact since she knew him before that mask came into play.

And she was afraid that soon, other girls might start to see behind that mask, and start to appreciate him She shivered involuntarily. The thought of Ichigo walking hand in hand with some other girl stung her heart. She frowned. That was something that she could definitely live without seeing.

Deep in her thoughts, she bumped into something soft.

"Sorry," she mumbled without looking up. It must have been around quarter to 5 already; who would be out at this time anyway? Probably some creep.

"Rukia?"

Her head shot up. "Ichigo? What are you doing here?"

"That should be my question," the orange haired boy replied. "What are you doing walking around in the middle of the night?"

She shrugged. "I had a bad dream. Besides," she added, "It's not even the middle of the night. It's nearly 5."

"Oh. Yeah…it is too," he said not taking his eyes off her. His gaze was making her uneasy.

She tried to turn the oncoming blush into a frown. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

"O-oh…" He looked away. "Sorry. Your attire looks nice." He immediately stepped around her, and started walking down the path.

All of Rukia's efforts to convert that blush into a frown shattered, and she looked down, embarrassed. What the hell did he mean by that, she wondered, unconsciously doing a 180 degree turn to fall in step beside him.

"I mean, it's the first time I've ever seen you in jogging clothes."

Her head shot up. Was he reading her mind? Or just saying mindless blather to keep the conversation running? Probably the latter, she concluded.

"You don't usually get up this early, do you?" she asked, changing the topic quickly.

"Yeah…" A pause. "Actually I was just over at the hospital. Visiting my grandfather." His voice wavered a bit.

"Oh? He's in hospital? What happened?" Rukia asked quietly, noting the slight change in his voice.

Ichigo paused for a moment. "Well, last night we got a phone call. He had a heart attack."

Rukia didn't know what to say, so she kept silent. Part of her wanted to pat his back and say 'it's ok' but another part of her wanted to ask him what he _really _felt, what he was _really _feeling. But she knew if she asked that, something bad was bound to happen, so she let her mouth remain shut.

Ichigo turned in his step and sat on a nearby bench. Without looking up he said, "I'm pretty bad. Karin, Yuzu, and Dad are all still at the hospital." He paused for a moment, then looked at her. She was standing in front of him, and even with him sitting down, the top of his head was nearly as tall as her. "But I wanted to see you."

Rukia laughed softly. "What, you think I was going to be awake at –"

She forgot what she was going to say when Ichigo suddenly reached forward and pulled her towards him.

"Ichigo…what…-"

"Can I…just hold you like this for a while?" he murmured, his voice barely audible and his head buried in her jacket.

She nodded, even though he wouldn't be able to see her.

After a while, he spoke. "They said everything would be fine, since it was just a minor heart attack." He took a breath. "But seeing him like that…funnily enough it was pretty painful." His laugh sounded dry. "Kinda…kinda reminded me of mum." His grip tightened around her waist.

She ran her fingers through his hair. "It'll be alright," she soothed. "It'll be alright." She knew, even if he hadn't said much, that deep inside he was hurting. "Though…it _was _bad of you to leave," she scolded him lightly.

She smiled inwardly as he looked up. "It was…" his voice became a lot softer. "because of you…" he trailed off, embarrassed.

"I know," she replied playfully. She lifted his chin up so that he was looking at her. "I'm flattered." They held each other's gaze for more than a second. She leaned down and kissed him slowly. She drew back, almost shocked at herself. When he leaned forward she straightened up, and they kissed again, this time longer than the last.

"Well," she murmured, a glint in her eyes, "I see you're feeling better. You should go back to the hospital." She broke away from his embrace. He stood there, not moving.

"Hey," she said, faking an angry voice. "If you go there now, then you can catch some sleep."

"Mmm…" was his only reply.

"Come on," she said, getting behind him and pushing him off the bench. He stood up reluctantly.

"I want to stay with you."

Rukia's heart skipped a beat. "W-what?" She struggled to keep her voice steady. "What about school? And…" she faded off, desperately trying to think of more excuses. None came to her mind as Ichigo turned around and held her in his arms again.

_Oh crap. If I don't get out now, I won't be able to resist him…_

"It's ok, right?"

Even though her mind's answer was clearly 'no, it's not ok at all,' her mouth couldn't say anything, even when she opened it to speak. Instead, it was greeted by an intense kiss that made her weak in the knees.

- - -

Rukia woke up dreamily. What the hell was the time, she wondered, looking sleepily at her watch. 11:30AM.

_Crap._

The bed seemed unfamiliar. Something moved beside her. Ichigo. "Ichigo?" She said in a not-so-quiet voice. The boy murmured something, and then rolled over, taking the majority of the blankets with him.

"Oh…yeah," she said to herself. That stupid boy had convinced her to come to his home. And he had collapsed as soon as he had unlocked the front door. Well, it was forgivable, since he probably hadn't slept at all last night. And then she had to carry him all the way up the stairs and into the bed. After that, she had suddenly felt sleepy, and hopped in next to him without a second thought.

Actually, she had been rather relieved. Ichigo had been acting a bit strange earlier, and her mind had been already imagining things that weren't so innocently-based. What had scared her was the fact that she had become so weak and…_willing _towards him, when he had asked her to stay with him. The spoilt brat. Even though it was mostly her fault for giving in to him.

Anyway, she shook her head, all that wasn't important right now. What was important was that she had to get to school, even if she was going to be late. Ichigo had a very good excuse, she had nothing. As she climbed out of the warm bed, Ichigo grabbed her wrist.

"Oh…Ichigo, you're awake?" His back was facing towards her.

"Mm…yeah…" He didn't release her wrist. "Are you going to school?" he asked as he turned around to face her, at the same time pulling her towards him.

She sighed, giving into him once again. Where was all that confidence and strong-mindedness she had just a minute ago? "Let me go to school," she said, looking at his sleepy face. "I don't have a reason to skip. Plus, I have to hand in that homework assignment, I have to talk to the teacher about the next test, and get my marks for –"

She was cut off as he got up unexpectedly fast, kissing her while she was talking. He drew back, leaning up on one elbow. "Ok, you can go now," he said, still keeping his gaze on her. She felt her cheeks heat up. Stupid Ichigo. Kissing her when she wasn't ready.

As she went to her house to change into her school uniform, she suddenly had the urge to just forget about everything she had to do today, and spend the day with him. She quickly pushed that thought away before it became too powerful. It would be _dangerous_, she decided, if she went back to him now. Things could happen that she might regret later. Plus, they weren't even _officially _going out yet. She'd better fix that issue up quickly, as well, before any hungry females in the school got their claws into him. Men were _very_ vulnerable creatures.

- - -

The day had gone by quickly. Matsumoto had interrogated her as soon as she had gotten her books out of her locker, and she had told her a little bit of what had happened. The rest of the day was uneventful, she thought blankly, stuffing her pencil case in her bag.

"Oh, Rukia, someone's here to see you," Matsumoto called, winking. "I'll call you up or something, I guess." The strawberry blonde waved, and disappeared from the locker room.

Who would be here to see me, Rukia thought. It's after school already. Unless her brother had come to pick her up…though that wouldn't really explain Matsumoto's winking.

As she walked through the gates a male voice called out. "Yo."

"Oh! Ichigo!" she walked up to him. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing, stupid? Of course I'm here to pick you up." He rolled his eyes. "Here, give me that," he said, taking her bag from her.

"I thought you were still sleeping," she said as they started walking.

"I'm not going to sleep forever, you know," he replied.

"Um…thanks for coming to pick me up," she said after a few moments of silence.

"I just wanted to make sure no guys would try to walk you home when I wasn't at school," he said, his tone light.

She stepped in front of him, causing him to stop abruptly.

"Do you really mean that?" she asked, her tone dead serious.

"Uh…yeah..." he said uncomfortably. "And I wanted to see you as well…" He examined the ground next to his foot. Jeez, what was with Rukia and making the situation so awkward.

"Do you like me?"

His eyes widened, and it took him a while to respond. "Yeah." There was a moment of silence. "Anyway, what's with all the weird questions today? I just came to pick you up that's all," he added hurriedly. Of course he liked her, what was she going on about? Hadn't he already made it clear?

"I…want to…go to the next level," she said, looking him in the eyes.

Ichigo lurched back. What did she mean by that? Next level? What the hell? Did she mean –"

"I don't mean _that _you sick boy," she frowned. "I mean…I want us to make a _commitment_." She had deliberately chosen that word, as she knew that it was _that _word that scared most males away. She had learned that from Matsumoto, who had learned that from the countless males that had confessed to her. If Ichigo was really serious (even though she had no doubt that he wasn't) then he would –

"Ok." Ichigo shrugged his shoulders.

Her eyes narrowed. "You know what I'm asking, right?"

Ichigo looked at her oddly. "Unless you want me to father a child or something like that, yes, I think I know what you're asking."

"Oh good. So you'll do my homework for a month, right? I'm so glad!" she exclaimed, stretching her arms high above her head. As she started to walk away, Ichigo caught her from behind. She stifled a laugh.

"What?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"Don't 'what' me," he growled.

She rolled her eyes. "Ok, ok, you make it _so _boring. We're a couple now, ok?" She nodded her head for confirmation. "Do you want to hold my hand as well?" she asked sarcastically.

Ichigo sighed inwardly. He knew he would give in and take her hand. Of course, secretly, Rukia was happy. But he knew that as well.

- - -

**AN: **Alright! Ok, honestly guys, I don't know when the next chapter will be, but…yeah! I'll try my hardest! Thanks for all your reviews. They are the best! And all those silent people that just 'alert' this story or 'favorite' this story. Later!


	18. School Trip Part I

**AN: **I know, I know. It's been a century. And that's an understatement. Thanks a lot for reading!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

- - -

**Return to no Home: School Trip (Part I)**

**- - -**

He attracted attention. He always did. Renji knew that his hairstyle and hair color wasn't exactly the norm, but after years of the same thing, he really couldn't care less. What he was focused on now was his job.

'His job'. The phrase had a nice ring to it, he thought, while pulling up to his next destination. Even though, he added as an afterthought, the actual job wasn't nice at all. He stepped out of his maroon sports car, adjusting his sunglasses. The building in front of him was an abandoned apartment; broken glass lay around the perimeter. Not exactly a place where little kids would be playing, he thought dryly, though immediately he recalled his own past, mucking around in a junkyard like this.

He took one step forward, but before he finished crunching the gravel underneath him he was met with the cool barrel of a revolver. He casually stopped, not even bothering to glance sideways to the person holding the firearm.

"We've been expecting you."

"I know."

Renji knew from experience that people weren't used to being answered in this way, and in the brief moment of surprise, he snapped out his arm, catching the assailant in the jaw.

- - -

Drug dealers. Byakuya rolled his seat back an inch and crossed his legs. They had always been an annoying pest to the special forces, but there really hadn't been any major drug circles that required any focused attention. Until about a decade and a half ago.

During a small raid in the south of Japan, Byakuya and his team had uncovered a trail which hinted towards the existence of a huge international drug ring that Japan was part of. The problem was, every time they got closer to finding out exactly _who _was behind the organization, the trail seemed to disappear. That was expected, but for years and years?

Finally, they had gotten hold of a reliable clue, which originated from USA. Immediately headquarters had requested that they send a team to the states in order to investigate. They did know for certain that the drug lord did come from Japan, but in order to find his or her whereabouts, there would probably be more chance finding out information in the US.

They chose the youngest member of the force, a student named Abarai Renji. The boy had originally been found by Byakuya himself. Byakuya's team were following a lead when they encountered the child, nearly dying from starvation in an abandoned building. Protocol explicitly stated that they do not take any risks, and to Byakuya, as team leader he commanded that they leave the child to die. A nearly-dead child would just endanger his team.

They all agreed. Except her. Hisana.

She didn't listen to him, and gave him a look which shook his composure. They did end up bringing the child, but it was a costly decision. In the battle to come, she was wounded while trying to protect the child. It was a decision which made even the stoic Byakuya fall in love with her, but in the end she never fully recovered. She died a month later.

- - -

Renji knew this story very well. He knew he owed his life to Byakuya, and so, after he had recovered he asked Byakuya to enlist him into his task force. Byakuya agreed, and the first and only mission Renji had received (other than his current one) was to protect Byakuya's sibling: Kuchiki Rukia.

In retrospect, Rukia was never in any real danger; Renji was just there to ease Byakuya's hidden (but apparent) worries about his smaller sibling.

He tried to ignore the familiar twinge of pain in his chest as he thought of his ex-girlfriend. At first, when Byakuya offered him the choice to go to the USA, his initial reaction was 'no way'. What about Rukia?

But, he had known long ago that he couldn't stay with Rukia forever. Oh, he had loved her, to be sure, but he knew that his lifestyle and job wouldn't be able to give Rukia the full satisfaction and protection that she needed and deserved. Besides, he knew he owed the very fact that he was living to Byakuya. Renji's conscience would never be fully sated until he brought down the international drug ring that Hisana had died tracing. After all, Renji was pretty much the reason why she had died. It would be selfish to pursue such nice things such as love.

_Enough reminiscing._

He surveyed the mess around him. He had survived unscathed, of course. He walked back to his car.

_Damn. They scratched the paint._

- - -

The bell had rung, but unlike the rest of the students hurrying to pack up their belongings and go home, Rukia continued writing. She was in no rush.

"Hurry up already!" Matsumoto whined, stretching beside her friend.

Rukia finished the sentence she was writing, and soon fell in step beside Matsumoto as they made their way outside of the classroom. It had been about a month since her and Ichigo had officially started 'dating' even though their friends hadn't found out until a week ago.

"I still can't believe you're going out with Ichigo," Matsumoto said to her shorter friend.

Rukia didn't bat an eyelid. "He's very sweet, and –"

"Yes, yes, I didn't mean there was anything wrong with him – but, judging from what you told me, wasn't that a pretty fast transition?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you broke up with Renji – and then in such a short period of time you're going out with him." Matsumoto paused to look at her friend. "What if he's just really a rebound guy?"

Rukia let out a 'hmm' as they turned the corner.

"Besides, is he even that great?" Matsumoto continued. "Isn't that him over there?"

Rukia looked to where her friend was pointing. It was definitely her boyfriend, standing at the school gates. Rukia frowned as two girls from a different high school approached the orange haired youth. They giggled and carried on in front of him, and while Ichigo was polite enough, she wondered if he was being _too _polite.

Ignoring what was happening, she took off her school shoes. She wasn't jealous. She wasn't.

"I'm not worried," she proclaimed more to herself than Matsumoto.

"Uh-huh," the strawberry blonde mumbled as she removed her school shoes. "I have to go ahead ok?"

Rukia nodded. "See you tomorrow."

"No you won't. It's the weekend, dummy."

Rukia mentally slapped herself. Of course. Her older brother was out somewhere doing business, and Ichigo had told her that his dad and his sister's were going out that weekend – they would have the house to themselves.

Somehow, she was glad – in the last week they really hadn't been able to talk much, with school work. Even though they were a couple now, the rivalry they had in academics hadn't dimmed a bit. She started walking towards Ichigo, getting more displeased with every step that the girls hadn't left him alone, and two, he hadn't told them to get lost. Of course, it would be quite rude to tell people to just 'get lost' but – love makes people think rather irrationally.

The two girls must have felt something rather cold and angry coming their way, because they made their exit quickly before Rukia reached them.

- - -

Ichigo studied his girlfriend. She was cute when she was mad. Very cute, he decided. She sat on the opposite end of his bed, arms crossed, glaring at him. She hadn't said anything on the way home, letting Ichigo know immediately that something was wrong.

Ichigo sighed. He scooted over to the end of the bed, and placed his arms around her.

"Don't touch me," he heard her growl, but she didn't move.

Ichigo pulled back, trying to stop himself from laughing. She was really too cute.

"Who were those girls?" she blurted out, obviously jealous.

"Which?" he replied, feigning innocence. Her glare intensified.

"…"

"Don't worry," he said, knowing that making fun of her when she was angry was actually very fun – but it could get dangerous. "They just wanted to know whether I knew if some random guy was still at school."

"That was a pretty long conversation just to find out whether a person was at school," Rukia grumbled under her breath, but she visibly loosened up.

Ichigo leaned in and kissed her briefly.

"You're so unfair," she said after he finished kissing her. "Do you see me talking to any guys?"

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "Not really," he admitted, even though the reason was probably because no one wanted to be beaten to a pulp. Because he would do just that, if he caught anyone trying to flirt with his Rukia.

"Hmph," she pouted, but she let the matter drop.

- - -

Friday night dinner was pizza. Both of them were tired out from the busy week, and Rukia had quickly agreed to Ichigo's suggestion of ordering fast food. As Ichigo threw out the two pizza boxes he shook his head at the girl sitting in the middle of his room.

"You ate more than me." It wasn't a question, rather, a statement.

Rukia nodded happily. Ichigo shook his head again, and sat down on the floor next to her.

"It's a wonder you don't get fat," he mumbled to himself, as he stretched out on the floor, feeling lazy after eating.

Rukia glanced back at him. "As if I will ever get fat," she huffed. "You, on the other hand might," she said, running a hand underneath his shirt to feel his stomach. It was surprisingly toned, even after eating.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Her fingertips felt nice against his skin, but he didn't say anything, hoping she would leave her hand underneath his shirt.

"What's the matter?" she asked playfully, crawling up into kissing range.

Ichigo looked away, embarrassed. After a month of dating, they hadn't progressed passed kissing – _not _that he had a burning desire to – but because they hadn't really done _anything _there were times where it was rather awkward for the both of them.

"Nothing," he grunted, trying to keep his hands to himself.

"Hey, Ichigo," he heard her say as she curled up next to him.

"Yeah?"

"You know how…we started dating pretty close to my break up?"

Ichigo nodded.

"Didn't you think that was a bit dangerous?"

He shifted his gaze to the girl next to him. "Nope."

"You could just be my rebound guy, you know," she said casually. She felt his body stiffen momentarily.

"But -"

She silenced him by putting her finger on his lips, and kissed him softly.

"Mmm…it tastes like pizza," she said.

- - -

The weekend passed uneventfully, with a few kisses here and there. Monday morning came too fast, Ichigo thought, as he rolled out of bed. Minutes later his dad came crashing into the room. Ichigo casually side-stepped his father, used to the treatment.

"Wait!" His dad wailed, as Ichigo started to exit his room. "How was your weekend with Rukia?"

Ichigo froze. How did his dad know? Even though his family had already found out that the two were dating, Ichigo only briefly discussed his relationship with her to them.

"Actually, I purposely brought the girls with me this weekend so that you two could have a passion – "

"Dad. Shut it."

"Oh! So you did have –"

"A passion-what?" came a voice belonging to Yuzu.

Ichigo groaned. It was another normal morning for the Kurosaki family.

When he was finally dressed and ready to go to school, he walked out the front door, followed closely by his inane father. Rukia was always waiting for him at his front steps, and Isshin always took this opportunity to ask when he would be expecting grandkids.

"Sorry, once again," Ichigo apologized as soon as they had gotten far enough away from the house. She looked up at him.

"It's fine…I kind of enjoy it."

"Enjoy being asked when _we're_ going to have kids?" he said without thinking.

Rukia blushed a deep red. Ichigo immediately realized the implications of his question. "Uh…sorry – I didn't mean that we – well, us, would –"

He suddenly felt his neck go hot, even though the morning wind was quite cool. He glanced at Rukia, who was still blushing at the ground.

_Oh god…what have I done now? _Ichigo punched himself mentally for being so stupid and let his big mouth blurt out something it shouldn't have. They had only been going out for a month – hardly enough time to be even _having _this sort of conversation. Even if they did know each other before, they still didn't _really _know each other, and were still finding out new quirks and habits of the other.

He breathed in awkwardly.

"It's okay...I don't mind…" he heard her say in a small voice, her eyes still nailed firmly to the ground. His heart skipped a beat, and he pulled his arms around her for a quick, awkward embrace.

"Uh…so, anyway," he said when they parted, eager to change the subject. "Have you started organizing the school trip?" Rukia was on the committee that was in charge of planning the annual trip."

Rukia looked up at her boyfriend, glad for the change of topic. "Um…actually yes," she paused, reaching up to adjust his collar. They started walking in the direction of the school. "We'll probably be going to Okinawa…but we have to talk about it in class today."

- - -

Rukia banged her hands on the desk in front of the class, signaling for quiet. "Alright," she commanded. "The committee has decided we will follow on the school tradition and travel to Okinawa Island, in the Okinawa prefecture. It will be for three days and nights, two weeks from now. Any questions?"

The noise level grew slightly, as students murmured amongst themselves.

One student raised his hand. "What's the accommodation like?"

"We'll be staying in a dorm the school rented out last year. It's two levels high – the boys will be on the bottom floor, and the girls will have the top floor. After 10pm boys are not allowed on the top floor, and vice versa," she said sternly.

"What about you and Ichigo?" Matsumoto called out, causing the class to go into hysterics.

Rukia blushed furiously. "He is no exception," she managed to say, making a mental note to smack her friend later.

"We better watch you two," someone yelled out.

"No, we better watch our school captains. They'll probably provide us with better action," another replied, making the class laugh once again.

Before Hitsugaya could knock the offender out, the home room teacher stood up, signaling for quiet. "Alright, that's quite enough. Let Rukia continue."

Rukia inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to ignore the rising heat on her cheeks. "Anyway, we'll discuss our itinerary at a later date, but for now, just let your parents know. Thank you."

- - -

"God, I can't believe you said that!" Rukia exclaimed at the lunch table. Ichigo had forgotten something in the classroom, and Rukia took this opportunity to scold her friend in front of the rest of the group.

"Oh please." Matsumoto winked at her. "Doing it on the school trip is such a normal thing these days."

Rukia, Hinamori and Hitsugaya blushed simultaneously. Rukia opened her mouth to protest, but she saw Ichigo walking towards the table. Murdering Matsumoto would have to wait, she decided. Talking about _that _topic in front of Ichigo was impossible.

- - -

Byakuya answered the telephone on his desk after the first ring. "Hello?"

After a few moments of listening to the voice on the other end, he circled a few words on a paper on his desk.

"Of course. I'll fly down there in two weeks with a team to examine the area."

Placing the receiver back on the handle, he leaned back in his chair. Headquarters had contacted him, saying that they had a new lead on the drug case they had uncovered those many years back. The location was circled on the paper in front of him.

_Okinawa Island._

- - -


End file.
